The 19th Hunger Games
by Tarantallegra13
Summary: A new year and a new hunger games. Who will be the victor this year? With 27 ? tributes, come see who comes out alive! COMPLETE!
1. Tribute and Sponsor Page

**Alright! Here is the final tribute list! Thank you so much. I have been working hard to get better sketches of all the tributes in a word document and I finally finished. Also on this page is the sponsor point totals. This page will be updated right before I post a new chapter with any new sponsor points I have. If you want to send something to a tribute, PM me or review and let me know what you want to be sent in your silver parachute. For bonus sponsor points, send in any tricks for the gamemakers to pull. Also, for 10 sponsor points, send me in a mutt involving a spider. If I end up using your creation, it will go up to 20 points! Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor! :)**

**Male in bold, **Female in normal

District 1: **Sam Foster, **Sequin Allure

District 2: **Royal Alabaster, **Sage Hester

District 3: **Leo Ryll, **Skylar (Sky) Reef

District 4: **Quintley Geannus, **Jasmine (Jaz) Assh

District 5: **Logan Eve, **Cynthia Cressman

District 6: **Cliff Johnson, **Klarissa Reft

District 7: **Aidan Lunario, **Annaliese (Anna) Braeburn

District 8: **Nick Angel, **Kendal Resista

District 9: **Andy Mason, **Miranda Vincent

District 10: **Fenton Henderson, **Lynnie Jacobs

District 11: **Tristan (Tris) Daniels, **Katie Breton

District 12: **Cane Moulden, **Victoria (Vic) Simons

If I moved your tribute, I am really sorry. I will make the districts work with the characters. Thanks for all these great tributes.

I truncated some names to make my life easier. Sorry if there is any confusion.

wolfieslittlemoon 33

IceTigers 58

EnjoyEveryMoment 30

BandGeek791 55

Fifi Dear 91

hotchocolate 115

NYC Gleek 30

MockingjayAholic 73

Grandioseme 60

TheMortalSacrifice 31

littlemissmockingjay 55

GreenPeach 85

AnaLucia 30

LittleSchemer 58

Bibliophile 88

InSanity Storm 30

That Patrotic Chick 58

Promises Not Forgotten 23

snoopy 2010 3

Spunker325 3

melliemoo 11

clovenhooves 8

Kayla 20

121 Amanda 31

hahukum konn 41

* * *

Cost of items in arena

bread 10

3 bottles water 15

heat 20

basic first aid 25

light source (flashlight) 30

capitol food 30

batteries (enough for replacing) 35

serious medicine 60

Let the games begin!


	2. District 1 and 2 Reapings

**AN: Let the reapings begin! If you want to see how much things "cost" for sponsor points, go check my profile page, I have put that information there.**

District 1 Reaping

Sequin Allure looked into the mirror for the first time since her stylist sat her down. She instantly smiled and her stylist clapped.

"Sequin! You look fabulous!"

"I know! Thank you so much Turquoise!"

Sequin stared at her reflection a little longer before standing up in her sparkly purple dress which matched her eyes and her silver flats. She put on her necklace, a violet pendant which matched her dress and eyes perfectly before she walked away, her blonde hair shimmering behind her and turning the heads of everyone else in the salon, who looked on with jealousy.

She walked out to the square and met with her trainer, Aqua.

"Sequin, you look awesome. Ready for this?"

"I have been training since I could walk and I am now 17. I really hope I get chosen…"

"You can volunteer. You deserve this, you are ready."

Sequin looked towards the stage as they began to assemble up there. She looked around, wondering who the male counterpart to her would be…

Sam left his house in the morning and headed to the square. He wore a black button down shirt, hoping it wouldn't need to be displayed on TV. He stood proudly with his parents and siblings stood alongside him, waiting for the reaping to begin. He had one hand on his brother, Lorcan. Lorcan was a nervous wreck. He couldn't help it though, Sam's mom lost it after his other brother Cedric was born and drank during her pregnancy with Lorcan. Lorcan has a multitude of disabilities and Sam spent most of his time taking care of him.

There was a buzzing sound before the escort for District 1, Julit, stepped up to the microphone. She sported a bright purple hairstyle and was smiling as she babbled on about the Capitol's glory. Sequin looked around unenthusiastically and Sam focused on his surroundings, trying to keep an eye on his active siblings.

Julit reached into the bowl for the girls and pulled out a name. "Sequin Allure." There was a squeal of delight as the gorgeous girl ran to the stage. She was slender but had well defined muscles. She sat next to the mayor and awaited to see who would join her in the arena. She prayed he'd be attractive, otherwise he wouldn't be getting any attention from her.

Julit cleared her throat and dipped her hand in the bowl with the boys' names and pulled out a card. "Lorcan Foster" she called out loudly. A gasp came from the crowd as they knew that Lorcan would not be a good chance at winning. It took one second later before "I volunteer" was shouted from Sam's throat. Sam strode quickly to the stage, and shook Julit's hand and nodded towards Sequin.

The tributes entered the justice building and were led into separate rooms. Sequin waited anxiously for her guests and saw Turquoise and Aqua enter. They hugged her in excitement.

Aqua spoke first, "Sequin, don't forget everything you've learned. Get your hands on a sword and you'll be unstoppable. I can't wait to see you again. You will do us proud in these games."

Sequin grinned broadly in response, "I won't forget, I can't wait to come back and see you again too."

Turquoise then opened her mouth and said, "besides, if you win, think of how fabulous you'll get to look on the victory tour!"

Sequin beamed at this statement and vowed in her heart to try the hardest to win. She had more meaningless conversation with her stylist and trainer before they were escorted out and she was led to the train. She finally got a good look at Sam. Deeming him appropriately attractive, she smiled at him before walking to meet her mentor.

Sam entered his room and his family walked in. His siblings were shaking in fear. They knew he was strong, but they didn't know how well he could handle the other tributes.

Lorcan spoke in a shaking voice, "Sam, ple-please come back for me."

Sam placed his hands in Lorcan's and smiled at him. "You know I will come back to you buddy."

Sam's mom, Creya, spoke up, "Life will go on without you, Sam. I couldn't be happier about you going."

Cedric stepped forward as he saw his brother's face fall at his mother's words. He placed a leather bracelet in Sam's hand and said "here, your token for the arena."

Sam smiled and hugged his siblings one last time before they were taken away. His father shook his hand before leaving. Sam stepped on the train and looked at Sequin skeptically. He was awed by her beauty but she seemed a little too excited about this for him to take her seriously. She smiled at him anyway and he left to find his mentor.

District 2 Reaping

Royal finished his 150th pushup for the morning and laid down on the ground. He sighed as his muscles relaxed and he finally stood up and got dressed for the day. He put on a red tunic, brown slacks and grabbed his favorite floppy hat. He knew he wouldn't look the best out of everyone there but that was the price he paid for growing up poor in the mines. People really didn't understand that there was a whole different side to these career districts. He woke up his best friend that he shared the apartment with and told him to get down to the square.

Royal actually hated the red tunic he had since it clashed so horribly with his hair. He had always hated his ginger hair so he loved the floppy hat that his girlfriend got him for his 16th birthday last month. It hadn't been the only gift she'd given him. She also gave him the news that she was pregnant. He tried to be supportive about it but it was pretty shocking news. It set their relationship hanging by a thread. He hoped that neither of them would be chosen but he was ready if he was and he knew that he could come back to her, with resources to care for their child. He met her in the square and quickly pulled her behind some statues to kiss her ferociously before they split into their "holding cells" as he liked to think of them. His attention turned to the stage as the microphone crackled.

Sage woke up the morning of the reaping and got her best dress out of the closet. It was a beautiful midnight blue color that complemented the forest green of her eyes and enhanced the paleness of her skin and the brilliant blonde of her hair. She loved her hair more than any other part of her. It was incredibly unique as it changed color with the seasons. It was a slight genetic trait but she liked to enhance it with chemical dyes.

She was preparing to be chosen; she was after all 17 and only had one more year after this. She had been training for years and wanted the chance to prove herself to the people of her district. Every year, she would watch the games and watch what people did wrong, muttering about how she could have done so much better. She walked out to the square and prepared for the reaping.

Kori, the escort for district two spoke briefly about the Capitol before reaching into the bowl of girls' names. "Sage Hester." Sage walked rapidly to the stage and stood proudly in front of her district, radiating confidence. She wasn't the strongest looking candidate but people had all seen her training and many had heard her tirades about how she wanted to do the games. She had the attitude to win and that gave her district hope.

Kori shook her hand and reached into the other glass bowl before calling out "Royal Alabaster." Royal strode quickly to the stage and shook hands with Kori and Sage before entering the Justice building to meet his loved ones.

His family didn't come. His father was too estranged with him for trying so hard to be a career that he forbade the rest of his family from seeing him. His girlfriend Rosemary and his friend Drake came though. Rosemary instantly fell into his arms and he comforted her surprisingly well. She was terrified that he would never come back from this and he worked hard to not let her see his fears. She calmed down soon enough once he and Drake told her about how ready he was for this. Drake handed him a handkerchief to take into the arena as his district token. He was then quickly ushered to the train and took one look at the ruthless look in Sage's eyes before stalking off down the train to his room.

Sage entered her justice building room and sat down before instantly standing up when her mom entered the room. Her father died in an accident a few years before and she hugged her mom tightly.

"I will win this for us, mom. I will make our lives better."

Her mom nodded gravely and they held hands in silence before the peacekeepers came to take Sage away. Sage stepped on the train and prepared to ally with her fellow tribute before he stormed off. She thought bitterly to herself _"you just crossed the wrong girl"._

**AN: Well let me know what you think. Should I change to first person or keep it in third? I have never written in third before so I find it a new challenge for me. Don't forget reviews are 5 sponsor points! Please don't review one chapter 8 times. I will lose my mind keeping track of points that way. Anyway, hope the creators of these tributes like what I've done with them! Happy Hunger Games!**


	3. District 3 and 4 Reapings

**AN: Ahhh! Thank you so much for the positive response! I am so glad you liked the last chapter. Remember, I need spider mutts! I already got one awesome suggestion! And keep earning sponsor points, you'll want them when we get in the arena…trust me. Also, I don't have a beta or edit because it takes up too much time so I apologize for any errors. Happy Hunger Games! **

District 3 Reaping

Leo looked around his room before settling his eyes on the ceiling. It was what he liked to do best when he was dealing with a difficult situation. He couldn't figure out what component he needed to complete his invention. He was working on a better trap design for the hunters in his district to use but he was missing something. He was about to slam his head down onto the desk when his mom screamed his name. He sighed and grabbed his jacket before heading out to the square with his mom and dad. He was their only child and he had two more years left of worrying about the games. His parents were wringing their hands as they kissed his forehead before he was corralled into his pen. He continued thinking about his invention as the festivities were looking to begin. Worried looks continued to cover his parents' faces but he ignored them, staring into the clouds, waiting for inspiration to strike.

Sky looked into the mirror and ran a brush through her shoulder length hair one more time. She blinked and saw her sea green eyes staring at her. She never broke a smile as she pulled on her old favorite pair of sneakers. She looked into the mirror one last time to see her yellow t-shirt and old fraying jeans completing her outfit before heading to the living room. Her mom was sitting on the couch, staring at the wall with tears in her eyes and her dad smiled softly as she entered, gently rubbing her mom's back.

This day was difficult for all of them, they couldn't wait until Sky was ineligible for the games anymore since the games were just a reminder of what they had lost. Her brother, Cal, died just two years ago in the games. She hated the games for what they had done by completely destroying her family and it was incredible to think that it had only been two years. Her father, Luca, gestured to her and they left the house as a family.

When they arrived at the square, Luca hugged his daughter tightly before she left to join her best friend, Gracelin, in the group of 16 year old girls. The girls turned their attention to the stage as their escort, Riga, began to speak.

Riga is a gentle woman and very intelligent. She knew about the hardships faced by district 3 in these games since they weren't careers. She spoke through the required speech as quickly and emotionless as possible. She tried to proceed with the reaping as quickly as possible. She reached a hand into the bowl and frowned, she remembered this name from two years ago and she knew it would kill the family, but she had no choice. "Skylar Reef."

Gracelin turned to Sky and looked horrified. Sky walked to the stage with her head sagging slightly. She shook hands with Riga and saw the compassionate look in her eyes. She turned away, not wanting her pity and waited for the reaping to continue.

Riga grabbed a paper from the other bowl and cleared her throat before saying "Leo Ryll." Leo finally broke out of his inventing trance and snapped his head towards the stage. He walked towards the stage fairly quickly and took his place, still looking somewhat surprised and confused.

The tributes were taken into the justice building and allowed to see their family and friends. Sky's family and Gracelin came in together and instantly fell on her in tears. She managed to not break down, not even when Gracelin handed her a black beaded bracelet to wear as her token. She hugged them all and smiled. The one thing she never did was promise to come home. Her brother's last words in person to them were that he would come home and he never did. She wasn't going to make and break that promise.

"Grace?"

"Yes, Sky?"

"Take care of them for me?"

"Of course."

Leo's parents came in and he still seemed to be curious about his new situation.

His dad spoke first "Leo, please, survive for us. You are the most brilliant boy in the district and probably in the games. You can handle this."

"Dad, will you finish my trap? I am not sure what it needs but maybe you can finish it for me."

"Of course, son."

His mom spoke and said "don't trust people you don't know."

Leo rolled his eyes and said "mom, I don't know anyone in these games."

"Exactly. Be safe Leo."

Peacekeepers entered the rooms and took the two 16 year olds to the train. They looked at each other and shook hands amicably before separating down the train to head to their rooms.

District 4 Reaping

Jaz got up early in the morning and went to the kitchen. She looked in the fridge and sighed. Her mom must have forgotten to go shopping again. She scrounged together a reasonable breakfast for today. She wasn't normally one to make breakfast but today was a special day. Her siblings had relied on her in the time after her father's death and today was no exception, despite the fear that wracked her body when she thought of the games.

She excelled in some of the physical education aspects of school that she was forced into. P.E. was pretty much weapons training. She loved her twin Sais, but it was still a scary thought to think of plunging them into someone's body and taking their life. She really missed the days when her dad would take her to work and let her climb all over the nets. She sighed softly to herself but pulled it together instantly when her siblings started coming downstairs.

The all ate breakfast together but it was a solemn meal; one of them might be walking onto a train today and no one wanted that. After their father's death, the family banded tightly together and was inseparable. Jaz went upstairs and put her short dark blonde hair up in a hat. She wore an emerald hook necklace that her father gave her before he died. They walked out to the main square together and hugged quickly before the peacekeepers could drag them apart. All eyes were glued on the stage as they awaited the beginning of the "festivities."

Quintley stretched in his tent and left quickly. He grabbed his staff with twin blades on the ends. He walked into the small forest area that was in the district, found a rabbit, killed it and ate it raw. He went back to his tent and grabbed his clothes that he wore every year for the reaping. He changed into his black button-down shirt that clung to every muscle of his body and his black jeans. He placed his staff on his back and grabbed his bag with his grimy hands, pausing only to wipe his greasy hair out of his eyes. He briskly walked to the square knowing that if it wasn't this year, it would be next. He was going to use these games to move up in the world. He wanted to move to district 2 for peacekeeper training. He would be good at it; he was definitely intimidating enough. He stood in the back corner of the 17 year olds and stared at the glass bowl; waiting to see his fate.

Tiri, the escort for district 4, walked up and smiled happily. She loved having a career district and she knew that they had a good chance of winning and maybe even moving her to an even better district. She gave her propaganda speech about the glories of the Capitol and eagerly reached into the bowl of girls' names. "Jasmine Assh."

Jaz walked up to the stage and knew that none of her siblings would volunteer. The younger ones were in no shape to come out of these games alive and the older ones needed to take care of the family just like she did. Tiri shook her hand and reached into the bowl on her other side, pulling out a name. "Quintley Geannus."

The crowd parted as he walked quickly up to the stage, displaying arrogance in every gene. Jaz was trembling as she saw her district partner and opponent. No one dared volunteer in Quintley's place as they were well aware that he lived in the wild and was probably the best suited for the games in the entire district.

The tributes shook hands, much to Jaz's displeasure, and proceeded into the Justice building to say goodbye to their families. Jaz's family flooded in and they hugged each other tightly.

Her oldest brother spoke to her and said "you can do this, Jaz. This isn't a death sentence."

Jaz looked at him in disbelief and said "did you see that guy?"

"He probably isn't that fast. He can't be able to climb well. You just need to get your hands on a pair of swords like your sais and you can win this."

"I've never killed before though."

"Don't make friends. You will handle this. Dehumanize them and you can do this. You are a career after all."

Jaz smiled and hugged her family for the last time before boarding the train. Quintley stood next to her silently and looked at her. She tentatively spoke, "would you like to be allies?" He scoffed and trudged down the train to his compartment. She thought bitterly to herself _"Well, it was worth a try."_

Quintley had no one come to see him. His parents had died in a drowning accident when he was 12. He was already training at this point and didn't get to see their bodies after death since they drowned in open ocean. He avoided water from this point forward which explained the grimy appearance. He got his belongings out of the house his parents left to him and moved to the edge of town, as far from the ocean as he could get. No one really bothered him since he was known for being vicious but he was still lonely inside.

Having time for family and friends to visit and having no one come really drove this point home for Quintley. The mayor made an appearance in his room and spoke quickly and shortly to him.

"Quintley, I know that you have had a rough time since your parents' deaths but you will bring honor to your family name and the district. Good luck."

The mayor left quickly, upon seeing the anger in Quintley's eyes at the pity for his life. The peacekeepers came soon after and he boarded the train, staring heartlessly at his district. When Jaz asked if he wanted to ally with her, he scoffed and turned away. _"Like I would need an ally, let alone partner with someone so weak."_

**AN: I hope you got a good idea of these characters…and Quintley…sigh…he almost belongs in district 2 for his ruthlessness but I think that having him in 4 since his parents drowned was more appropriate. May the odds be ever in your favor! :-)**


	4. District 5 and 6 Reapings

**AN: Welcome back to the Hunger Games! You guys are getting spoiled by these updates. I may have to slow down once we get to the games because I'll run out of ideas but I will do my best. No less than a chapter a week when you read with me! Anyway, onto Districts 5 and 6. FYI, Cynthia is my tribute…and she won't win, but I really like her. Happy Hunger Games! **

District 5 Reaping

Cynthia woke up and stretched, rolling over to the man next to her and kissing him on the cheek. He stirred and smiled at her, before kissing her softly on the nose. She giggled to herself and curled closer to him.

"Last year of danger."

"May the odds be _ever _in your favor, dear."

"I sure hope so."

Cynthia got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom. She got dressed in her reaping outfit from last year, she wasn't chosen then so she was hoping for luck. It was a yellow sundress that complimented her dark brown hair nicely. She slipped into a pair of brown flats and finally dragged her boyfriend, Mark, out of bed to go down to the square. He growled and got up. He was 19 years old and they'd been together since she had started dancing at the same studio for the past year. He kissed her passionately before she went into the corral of 18 year olds.

Logan got out of bed before the sun had even risen and went out into the small wooded area. He took his small bow and arrows out from under his shirt and pinned his bandana to a nearby tree. He neatly positioned himself and shot all five arrows straight into the middle of the bandana. He repeated this two more times, pleased with himself and walked back to the house in the brightening dawn, hurrying before anyone could ask why he was out so early. He finally got back and shut the door silently. He went to his room and saw his brother Cade looking at him.

"How'd it go this morning?"

"Pretty well."

Cade scoffed at him. He knew about his brother's talent. It had taken a good 3 days of interrogation the first time he had caught him out but he finally got him to break and got a firsthand demonstration. He couldn't go see the real thing since he was basically stranded in the house due to his paralyzed legs.

Cade was 12 this year and Logan helped him get ready for the reaping. His parents had gone to the Justice building last week and asked if Cade could be excused due to his disability. The peacekeepers had refused…to put it mildly. Logan's father came home with a gash on his cheek and his mom had a bruised arm. Logan got ready quickly after, wearing a black tunic and grey slacks that complemented his gray hair and enhanced the only color on him, his blue eyes. Logan wheeled his brother to the kitchen and ate pancakes in silence with his solemn parents. They looked worriedly at their two sons. The four of them went to the square and stood in the "proper" places for the reaping, despite how much they wanted to stay together.

Saqi entered the stage and caused an immediate hush to fall over the crowd. She went in on the capitol propaganda speech and ignored that most people were trying to ignore her, despite the displays that were everywhere broadcasting her face and voice. Before the citizens of district 5 knew it, she was reaching into the ball with female names and clearing her throat. Families waited with bated breath as they anticipated how this one moment could destroy their life as they knew it. Saqi spoke "Cynthia Cressman."

Cynthia walked towards the stage, not willing to let the tears that were threatening to spill over her eyes. She shook hands rigidly with Saqi and stared off into the distance, not making eye contact with anyone. Saqi reached into the male bowl and announced "Cade Eve."

Cade froze in his chair. Before he had a chance to begin moving, he heard his brother cry out, "I volunteer!" Cade held his head in his hands, his brother might be a good shot but he would be nothing against those ruthless career barbarians. Nevertheless, he had no choice as he watched his brother walk up to the podium and introduce himself to Saqi.

The tributes entered the Justice building to say their last goodbyes.

Logan's family surrounded him and they spoke quickly and softly. His mother spoke first.

"Thank you, Logan. I know you have been preparing for this and I want you to be safe. I want you to come back here and then you can give your brother new legs and give us all a great life."

His father chuckled and said "Don't give him too much responsibility now. But, I am very proud of you for taking your brother's place. No matter what happens in that arena, we love you and thank you."

Cade took his brother's hand and gave him something. Logan opened his hand to see a dulled arrowhead that Cade had carved with the family's initials.

"So you can't forget." Cade told him with tears in his eyes. Logan hugged his brother and parents one last time before being ushered out to the train. He looked at the girl standing next to him who had puffy eyes. He offered a hand. "Good luck." She sniffled and said "Thanks."

Cynthia entered the Justice Building only to collapse on a couch sobbing. Mark walked straight to her and held her. She looked at him with tears filling her hazel eyes.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. We celebrated you being free last year and we were going to celebrate me tonight. We were going to be together forever."

Mark tilted her chin to look at him and she hiccupped. "We will be together. You will hide when you get in that arena and not come out until you are the last one standing you hear me? You are small and you can fit in places. You get yourself some food and a knife and kill anyone who crosses your path. When you get back, I will marry you. We will be together."

He slipped a simple ring on her finger. It was made of wood and held a small stone he had spent hours shining that seemed to be quartz of some kind.

"It's beautiful, Mark. Thank you."

"One last thing, Cynthia. Do not give up our secret until the perfect time. Wait until the interview. Do not give anyone a sign of weakness. This secret just might save you. You can do this."

She stood as the peacekeepers entered and quickly kissed and hugged him for what could be the last time. The last words she heard him say were "come back to me."

She boarded the train and shook hands with the male. "Good Luck" he said. She muttered "Thanks" but all she could really think was how much she was going to need it.

District 6 Reaping

Cliff got up in the morning and put on his reaping outfit for the day. He then picked up his pet, a squirrel that he managed to rescue when it came into town with a broken leg. He cuddled him to his body before putting him back down in his pen. His parents watched him with heavy hearts, hoping they weren't about to lose their son today. He stood tall and proud, despite his thin body and smiled as his mom tried to fix his blonde hair that never quite laid right. They walked to the square together, hoping to walk back home together that night.

Klarissa woke up with a start. She dreamed of it every year when the games came. Her best friend, Carla, died three years ago after being killed slowly from a career that she rubbed the wrong way and it haunted Klarissa's nightmares every year. She got out of bed and stared at the wall, trying to rid the images from her mind. She got out of bed and prepared to put on her favorite torn shirt and jeans but her mom burst in with a dress. She sighed and thought about begging to get out of it but knew it was pointless. She was always dead set on making her look gorgeous despite Klarissa's protests.

Klarissa was finally released from her mom after her blue-black hair had been piled intricately on her head and put on her locket with Carla's picture in it. Her mom took her hand and led her downstairs where her father smiled, despite his fear of this day. They walked to the square together and took their places as the escort, Pira, stepped onto the stage.

She was a soft-spoken escort and she briefly introduced the old mentors on the stage and smiled compassionately at the children who surrounded her. She spoke quickly about the capitol and reached into the first bowl. "Klarissa Reft." Klarissa walked shakily up to the stage and stood frightened. Those who hoped for a female victor sighed in defeat. Klarissa looked much too thin to be able to do much for too long. The district turned their attention to Pira as she reached into a second bowl and read out the name, "Cliff Johnson." Cliff walked and stood next to Klarissa.

They looked like they could have been siblings. He was as thin as she was but he was taller. They both were led into the justice building.

Cliff's parents surrounded him and had actually run home for his squirrel to let him say goodbye. He smiled and held his squirrel carefully in his hands.

"You'll take care of him for me until I come back right?"

His parents nodded, both of them with tears in their eyes. He looked surprised and spoke softly.

"I will fight this evil and come home for you guys. I have plenty of life yet to live and I will come home for you. I won't hesitate to kill those horrible people that the Capitol trains to be the winners."

His parents hugged him tightly at those words and took his squirrel as he was left to head to the train on his own.

Klarissa entered the justice building and hugged her parents. She was whispering "I love you" freely to them and they simply held each other, knowing that this would likely be the last time they saw each other.

Her dad spoke before they left, "You remember me teaching you how to use a knife?"

"Yes…"

"Well, don't hesitate. I won't lose my only daughter to this without knowing she at least put up a fight."

Klarissa felt a burn in her eyes and hugged him tightly as she walked to the train, not bothering to wave goodbye to the district.

**AN: Hope you liked it! May the odds be ever in your favor! Oh, I am so sorry about those of you who couldn't review. I was trying to clean up the beginning of the story and I had no idea that would happen. It shouldn't happen again! Thanks!**


	5. District 7 and 8 Reapings

**AN: Here are the next two district reapings. Hope you like!**

District 7 Reaping

Aidan jumped down from the short height he was at from climbing the tiny tree in their front yard. Living in district 7, there were trees anywhere that there was space. Aidan liked to climb trees, just not very high. He went in the house to see his mother in the kitchen, finishing up cleaning from breakfast. She looked up at him and said "Aidan, why did you get up in that tree? You messed up your outfit for the reaping."

Aidan rolled his eyes and looked at her in disbelief. "I don't even understand why we need to look so nice. I mean it almost seems like we want to impress the capitol."

His mother's eyes grew a harsh look to them, "if you get chosen, I would think you would want to make a good impression on potential sponsors."

Aidan looked timidly at his mom and realized that she was right. He walked over to her and put his arms around her. "Sorry mom."

"It's alright, I know you're scared. It's only your second reaping after all."

She straightened his dark hair which looked nice against his cinnamon skin before straightening his black button-down shirt and his dress pants. Aidan looked down at his shoes and smiled that they were still shiny. At least he had kept those clean. His father came downstairs and kissed his wife on the cheek, and hugged his son. They left the house together, hoping that they could leave the house together again the next morning when they would walk as a family to work and school.

Anna came into the kitchen and kissed her aunt Helena on the cheek. It was a horrible day for her, just like everyone else in the district, but it was greater for her than many others. Nevertheless, she swallowed to soothe her dry throat. Her aunt looked at her and spoke "Anna, you look lovely." Anna wore a red dress with brown boots and a gold bracelet with leaves etched in. The bracelet was a gift from her mother. Anna half-smiled at the compliment before walking to the square with her aunt, her blonde hair flowing behind her.

Nagua, the escort, stepped up to the stage and smiled before speaking a clearly memorized speech about the capitol. She said the whole thing with a brilliant smile plastered on her clearly enhanced face and a perk in her voice that shouldn't exist when talking about such morbid things. She then reached into a bowl to pull out a slip of paper that read "Annaliese Braeburn." Anna stepped forward shakily and shook hands briefly with Nagua who continued to beam. She reached into a second bowl and called out "Aidan Lunario." Aidan walked nervously to the stage as well as his parents clutched each other's hands tensely in the crowd. The two tributes looked on as no one stepped up to volunteer. They were briskly led into the Justice Building for a chance to say goodbye.

Anna's aunt was the only one to come, as she was all that she had left and she had tears in her eyes as she entered. "Aunt Helena, what am I going to do?"

"You will fight for your life, Anna, it's your only choice."

"My brother fought for his life, too and look where it got him." Anna replied with bitterness and sadness mixed in her voice.

"Your brother was only 14. You are 16 and you are strong, even if you don't look it. You can hide, and you can use an axe."

"Yeah, on a tree! Not on a person. I'm scared. My parents wouldn't want this."

"Of course they wouldn't. Who would want to be given a fate like this? They would have wanted you to fight. They fought when that disease came through and now you need to be strong and fight just like they did."

Anna sniffled and nodded. She hugged her aunt and walked to the train. She looked at the boy next to her and smiled softly at him. "Maybe we can work together." He reminded her of her brother and she was more than willing to make alliances. He nodded gratefully and they walked down the train to meet their mentors together.

Aidan met with his parents in the justice building and they hugged him tightly.

"You are strong Aidan, you find yourself a good group of people and stick with them. You can chop down trees and those are a lot tougher than people. You might be 13, but they won't count you out just yet."

Aidan looked up at his parents with concerned eyes and smiled. "Thank you. I am sorry if I don't come home."

His parents had tears in their eyes, "Aidan, we can't blame you for this horrible fate. We love you, and you will be strong. Good luck."

He entered the train and looked at the girl he was standing by. He was average height for his age so he had to look up slightly. When she asked to work with him, he instantly accepted because she looked nice, almost like a younger mom. He needed all the help he could get, and sponsors might go for it. He took her hand gleefully and felt hope.

District 8 Reaping

Nick woke up and put on a white shirt and blue pants. He messed with his blonde hair to make it lay right before putting on a choker with a shell attached. It was a gift from his current girlfriend and happened to match his outfit so he figured he could wear it. He walked downstairs to smell breakfast and medicines. He smiled at his parents and said "I thought you were supposed to take the day off for the reaping."

His dad grinned back and said "You know I like to have extra medicines on hand, just in case."

He ate with his parents and 3 sisters, all of whom had puffy eyes. They had clearly spent the morning crying. They walked out to the square wordlessly. He walked calmly to meet the other 14 year old boys.

Kendal came into the living room and spoke loudly to her mom, who was sewing the hem on a skirt that had been torn. "Is this appropriate?" She was wearing a black skirt and a baby blue shirt. "Yes, Kendal. You look nice."

"Thanks mom!" She ran up and gave her a hug, causing her to laugh "Watch yourself, Kendal. I do have a needle in my hand!" They laughed and her dad came in to see what the commotion was. Soon, they left for the square and Kendal joined the 15 year old girls to await their fate.

Yuzi came out and smiled, she introduced everyone cordially before launching into her speech about the capitol. She simply said it, trying not to be obnoxious or force anyone to want to kill her for her patriotism. She was soon reaching into the bowl and reading out the name "Kendal Resista." Kendal walked to the stage and icily shook hands with Yuzi. Yuzi calmly dug around in the second bowl before saying "Nick Angel." Nick walked shyly to the stage and shook hands with Yuzi and Kendal. There were no volunteers so the tributes proceeded to the Justice Building.

Kendal's parents came into the room and they hugged her. Her dad gave her advice.

"Kendal, you are smart and fast. Train hard for this. Even if you don't come home, we are proud of you. You can make friends in the arena. Make friends and protect each other. Don't make friends too easily though and be strong."

Kendal nodded and her mom added something. "If you have to kill, do it for self defense honey. Don't change because of these awful games."

They all hugged one last time before the peacekeepers took her to the train. She looked at Nick whose eyes were bloodshot from recent crying. She offered her hand and he shook it. "Let's talk" she said. He nodded and they walked down the train.

Nick's parents and sisters entered the room. His sisters were freely crying. He envied that they would be able to stay and they could have volunteered for each other if they had wanted to. No one was there to volunteer for him. Also, his girlfriend, Hazel, entered. He hugged her tightly. She was simply a close friend that he had begun to recently "date". Now that he was basically given a death sentence, she suddenly meant so much more to him.

"Hazel, I love you. I am wearing your necklace as my token."

Hazel sniffed and weakly smiled at him. He kissed her and hugged his sisters and told the oldest, Rosemary, "take care of them, even mom and dad, ok?" Rosemary nodded repeatedly as she continued to sob.

The peacekeeper came much too soon and they were practically dragged from each other. He boarded the train reluctantly and was more than happy to talk to Kendal. She looked like she might be somewhat helpful in the arena and if they combined together; maybe they could last a little longer, prolonging the life that they had left.

**AN: Ok, so Nick was actually written as Nicole but the creator of her was nice enough to let me make her a boy since I had already filled the girls by then. Thanks for all the reviews guys! I hope that you like this chapter. It's a little shorter but I am hoping you get a good idea of who these tributes are. I love writing them out. Happy Hunger Games!**


	6. District 9 and 10 Reapings

**AN: Alright, second to last set of reapings! Woo hoo! Start thinking about who you might want to sponsor! **

District 9 Reaping

Miranda wiped her brow and coughed. She sighed and took as deep a breath as she could manage. She hated dusty days; they always made her asthma act up. She walked into her sibling's bedroom and woke them up. She got them dressed in casual clothes, while she got dressed in her nicest dress. It was a beige dress with leaf and branch designs along the hem. She walked down to see her siblings eating breakfast with her father. He looked up sadly at his eldest daughter. Miranda sat down to breakfast and ate in silence. Her 10 year old sister, Eliza, was silently crying, soaking her eggs.

"Liza, it's ok, I probably won't even be chosen."

Nothing could calm her though. The family walked down to the square and her sister and brother stood by her father. She joined her best friend, Emily, in the fenced area for 14 year olds. Emily gave a hearty cough and sighed next to Miranda.

"How are you feeling today, Em?"

"Not so hot, Miranda. Hope it's not me, although I would say that I wouldn't mind dying if it meant that I wouldn't have to suffer anymore."

They turned their attention to the stage as the monitors lit up all around the square.

Andy got up and put on his traditional reaping outfit, much to his mother's chagrin. He wore a green t-shirt, jeans, and put on his favorite baseball cap sideways. He met his parents in the living room. They looked at their 16 year old son with heavy hearts. They knew that this could be a horrible year although they hoped it wouldn't be. Andy's mom looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Now, mom, don't start crying. You've got no reason to be freaking out, unless you want to about my outfit, like you do every year."

His mom gave a small smile before taking his hand and walking down to the center of town. Normally, holding hands with his mom would be a cause for embarrassment, but everyone was nervous today, on the reaping day.

Linu stepped up to the podium and said her scripted piece on the capitol. She rustled the papers in the first bowl before clearing her throat and saying "Emily Haysworth." Emily looked straight to Miranda with a pleading look in her eyes. Despite her talk earlier, Miranda knew she didn't want to die. Miranda took her best friend's hand before speaking up. "I volunteer!" Miranda walked to the stage.

Linu asked "What's your name?"

"Miranda Vincent"

"Excellent! Now for the boy." She rustled around in the second bowl for another name "Andy Mason."

Andy walked up to the stage with a swagger in his step. He was popular in school and he may not have wanted to be chosen for his parents sake but it didn't mean that he wouldn't be able to make friends in the arena, he could turn on the charm and watch girls fall all over him.

Linu walked the two of them into the justice building where Miranda was met by her family and Emily's. They all surrounded her, with Emily talking first.

"What did you do that for? I could have been released from this horrible sickness!"

"Em, you didn't want to die. I saw it in your eyes. I have a fighting chance."

"Yeah, your asthma will be real helpful."

"I can win and bring you medicine to save you."

Emily's father put his hand on her shoulder, "Thank you, Miranda, for your sacrifice."

Miranda's father turned to Miranda and said, "You are very brave my child, mother would have been proud of you." He then gave her a wooden ring that she recognized had been her mother's.

Miranda's eyes filled with tears, thinking of her mother who was killed in cold blood to torture her father into telling the truth in a case where he was innocent. "I will avenge her death and show those Capitol murderers who they are dealing with."

Miranda was reluctantly pulled away from her family and she looked at her partner, Andy. He smiled a thousand watt smile at her and she blushed before walking down the train to meet her mentor.

Andy's family met him in the building and they hugged him tightly. His mom was crying now and he patted her on the back. "I'm sorry mom, but I will try my hardest to come back home to you."

Andy's dad looked at him and said, "You do that. One recommendation, your sleepwalking might be your downfall. Tie yourself down to protect yourself. I don't want you walking into a trap."

"Thanks dad."

His mom kissed him on the cheek before he was taken away to the train. He looked at the girl standing next to him and decided to start working on charming the ladies at the beginning. He flashed her a smile and was pleased to see her blush. _This will be a piece of cake._ He thought to himself.

District 10 Reaping

Lynnie waddled to the bathroom and sighed. This was it, the last chance the Capitol had to destroy her mentally and physically in the terror called the hunger games. She walked to her closet and pulled on a white button down maternity shirt and a blue knee-length skirt. She turned to the mirror, not bad for a 7 months pregnant lady. She had moved out of her house after her parents disowned her from becoming pregnant with a guy who left her after he found out that she was expecting. They acted like she didn't exist anymore.

She ate a piece of toast before going to the square, hoping that she could go rest her feet back in her apartment soon, which became tired quickly since she was carrying twins inside of her.

Fenton stretched in his bed and hit the wall and whispered a curse to himself, trying not to wake his siblings. He got dressed in a hand-me-down tuxedo. He had worn this the past two years and it was starting to get a little small. He was taller than his brother had been at age 16 so it was a little snug, but he still looked alright, albeit a bit overdressed.

He came downstairs to find his dad making ham for breakfast. This was a surprise as they didn't normally get the good parts of the meat; they regularly got the meat that was nearly spoiled. He sat down and ate his ham while waiting for his brothers to get up. His dad spoke gruffly to him "You look good, son." Fenton muttered back to his dad "thanks." He and his dad had a somewhat estranged relationship. Although he helped out with the animals a lot and the errands, he wasn't around when it came to the slaughter, unlike his brothers.

Finally everyone was dressed and had eaten breakfast and they left for the reaping.

Junelle, the escort for district 10, came up on stage and introduced the mentors and herself. She spoke briefly on the Capitol and reached into a bowl filled with slips of paper. She smiled a fake smile and said "Lynnie Jacobs." Lynnie gasped and felt her eyes fill with tears as she waddled to the stage. Her parents held each other tighter, not wanting their daughter to die, no matter what mistakes she made. The crowd murmured amongst themselves as she made her way to the stage. Even Junelle looked sympathetic to the plight of the pregnant woman who now shared the stage with her.

Junelle wiped a slight tear from her eyes before reaching into the second bowl and reading off "Fenton Henderson." Fenton walked to the stage, trying to have a strong demeanor. He knew that he completely paled in comparison to the woman standing beside him, with his lanky body and ill-fitting suit but he tried to look strong.

Lynnie and Fenton were taken into the justice building. Fenton was greeted by his father, brothers and two best friends. Terry, one of his friends, handed him an anklet made from reins for a horse. He smiled and put it on gladly. They all surrounded him, wishing him luck, and speaking words of wisdom.

Terry hugged him tightly and said "I'll miss you man." They all knew it was really unlikely that the butcher's squeamish son would be coming back home.

Lynnie walked into the justice building and sat on the couch, expecting no one to come. She was surprised to see her parents come in, along with her ex-boyfriend. Her parents hugged her and she welcomed the companionship. Her ex-boyfriend, Craig, said "use this to your advantage. I am sorry for leaving you, please, come back to me and I will take care of you and our children."

Lynnie sobbed, surprised but not really sure how to react. In a less dire situation, she would have put him in his place, but she was too grateful for his support now. She was taken away after another hug and a kiss on the cheek from all of them. She entered the train with the 16 year old boy beside her and she shook his hand, thankful that he seemed nice and she walked down the train with him, anxious to talk to someone.

**AN: Alright, I am hoping to have the last two reapings out tomorrow (Friday). The chariots may not come until after the weekend though. Happy hunger games!**


	7. District 11 and 12 Reapings

**AN: Welcome to the final set of reapings! A couple things to go over: I will be posting a poll on my profile page, please go vote for your favorite tributes (up to 3), so I know who not to kill in the bloodbath. Also, the chariots might not be up for a couple days. Finally, in response to the reviewer asking for someone to move on from their district romance, yes, some of these people in district romances will move on to fall for someone new. I am not telling just who that will happen to yet, but I think you'll be surprised. Happy hunger games!**

District 11 Reaping

Tris stretched out his hands and splayed them out on the keys of the piano that his parents had saved up years to afford. This was his mother's and sister's preferred way of waking up in the mornings and it was worth facing his father's wrath to do it. Soon enough, his father came out and slammed the cover down on the piano, practically smashing Tris's fingers. Tris walked back to his bedroom silently to get dressed for the reaping. He put on a beige tunic and dark brown pants. He also fiddled with his choker. Just looking at the precious necklace brought a smile to Tris's face. The second half of the necklace belonged to his best friend, Kaylin. He walked back out to the sitting room and sat, fiddling with his necklace more. His mom and sister came out and they hugged before walking down to the square.

Tris met Kaylin before they were quickly separated into the sex-divided pens for 15 year olds. They hugged and he whispered "good luck" in her ear. He didn't know what he would do if she was reaped. She was one of the best parts of his life.

Katie roused her brother, Kasey, out of bed and she got him dressed. He was about to experience his first reaping so she dressed him in nice pants and a less dirty tunic. She was wearing a hand-me-down black dress from her aunt. She hugged her brother closely and they left the room they shared to meet her aunt. Lia, her aunt, took care of Katie and Kasey since their parents died in a fire that destroyed their home. Lia was the town's healer and Katie hoped to one day follow in her footsteps and work with medicines too. Lia had made a nice breakfast and they sat down together.

Katie spoke authoritatively to Kasey, "Now if they call your name, walk right up. Maybe someone will volunteer for you, but I doubt it. Don't look weak to anyone. You have your strengths just as much as the next person." Kasey nodded his head and Katie and Lia could both see the fear in his eyes at the thought of being chosen but he and his sister knew it was a part of life, a horrible part, but an unavoidable one nonetheless.

Wita walked up on stage and spoke softly and rapidly about the capitol. Then she immediately moved on, reaching her hand into the translucent bowl and pulling out the first paper her fingers could grab. She spoke coolly, with no trace of emotion in her voice. "Katie Breton." Kasey cried out her name "Katie!" but Katie quickly glared at him, walking powerfully to the stage and taking the advice she had just given her brother. Her brother sobbed quietly as he watched his sister shake hands with Wita who smiled sinisterly.

Wita repeated the process with the second bowl and said "Tristan Daniels." This time, a female, Kaylin, called the name "Tris!" Tris looked at her with sad eyes filling with tears and walked to the stage, shaking hands listlessly. Kaylin had tears rolling down her face as well. After no one volunteered, the tributes followed Wita into the justice building and sat in rooms.

Lia and Kasey entered the room, pulling her into a group hug. They all had tears on their face and Lia spoke to Katie softly. "My dear niece, you are the daughter I never had. You will be able to take care of yourself in that horrible arena. You hunt for us at times so you can throw knives and you know so much about medicines." Katie nodded and looked at her brother, "Kasey, be good while I'm gone. I will come back to you, I will fight my way back to you."

The peacekeepers came too soon after that for the saddened family and they said their last goodbyes. Katie entered the train and walked down it, trying to find her mentor who might help her survive.

Tris entered the room and Kaylin practically attacked him seconds later. She was followed in by his mother and sister. There was not a dry eye in this room either. Kaylin held him close to her and sobbed against his shoulder. He petted her hair and lifted her head. "Kaylin, I know this isn't the best time, but I love you. I've been falling in love with you. My token in the arena will be our necklace. Never forget me."

Tris pressed his lips gently to Kaylin's and kissed her. Kaylin looked at him after he broke the kiss and said "come back to me." His mother and sister said "you are strong Tris. You may be able to win this and come back home." Tris smiled softly, knowing they were just trying to make him feel better. He kissed Kaylin one last time before the peacekeepers led him out of the building to the train. He saw his district partner walk away so he walked in the other direction, feeling completely hopeless at what was to come.

District 12 Reaping

Vic woke up in the morning in her rather nice home that she shared with her mom, brother, and grandma. She smelled the air and cringed like she did every morning. She missed the sea breeze from district 4, but she knew that if she found out that her husband didn't love her, she would want to change districts too. So, now she was here in district 12. Her brother Victor, was 18 this year, his last reaping. She still had 3 to go, since she was 16. (**AN: I just realized that some of my math was wrong before but I am way too lazy to go fix it.)** She put on her regular clothes, a grey sweater and blue shorts; she refused to dress up to impress people who would be trying to kill her.

The four of them sat down to a meager breakfast, acting like it was a normal day, not a day where one or both of them might be forced into a deadly situation. They headed out of the house as a group, and ran into Vic's best friend, Micah. Micah smiled and hugged Vic. The kids all headed into the square together and waited to hear the name of the kids who would be sentenced to fight to the death in the Capitol's special form of torture.

Cane woke up and got dressed in the corner of the small room. His sister and parents were sitting at the table already and eating some basic grain bread for breakfast. They were cramped in the small apartment but comfortable. His sister was wearing a dress that his mom altered for her and she had her hair braided nicely. He was wearing a tight t-shirt that clung to his tight body. They didn't speak during breakfast and walked down in continued silence to the square. He stood silently with the other 15 year old boys waiting to hear his fate.

Yukki was the district 12 escort and it was easy to tell she wasn't a fan of her job. She talked in a falsely cheery voice, trying to bring some joy to a district with little to celebrate, especially when it came to the hunger games. She finally got around to pulling a name from a bowl and reading the name "Victoria Simons." Vic walked to the stage after turning to her brother who had a horrified look in his eyes. Yukki continued the reaping by announcing the name "Cane Mouldon." Cane walked to the stage powerfully and Vic trembled in his presence. He was built and tall and looked horribly frightening, not the usual district 12 tribute at all. Yukki asked for volunteers and not surprisingly there were none. The tributes were led into rooms to say goodbye and Cane's family stood around him with distance.

"You are strong, Cane, come back home to us and bring us honor." Cane smiled at his father's words but couldn't help but let his perfect façade break and hug his father. "I love you dad," He looked at his mother and sister and added "You guys as well. I will try my hardest to come back home to all of you."

Soon they were separated, and Cane walked straight away from his fellow tribute, not-so-subtlety letting her know that no alliances between them would be formed.

Vic's time with her family was much different. Micah managed to get there first and got her family to stay outside of the room. He walked in and simply said "I love you, Victoria. I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to tell you sooner." He then kissed her since he knew that this first kiss might be their last. Before they broke the kiss, the door flew open and Victor stood in the door with a furious look on his face.

"What are you doing with my sister!"

"I'll have you know that I love her."

Victor wasn't about to let Micah hurt his sister when she was potentially walking to her death and instantly punched him. The peacekeepers walked in soon after and separated the bruised boys. Vic's mom came up to her daughter and looked her in the eyes. "Stop crying, the boys are being stupid. I'll talk sense into your brother later. Come back so you can learn more about Micah's feelings for you. I have no doubts in you. We trained you in district 4. Your father and I were both victors, winning is in your blood, no matter how stupid he was, he won just like I did. Come back home to me, Victoria."

Vic nodded and her grandmother simply hugged her and kissed her on the cheek before Vic left for the train. She was snubbed by her partner but didn't really seem to care as she walked down the train, in search of her mentor for any advice they might have.

**AN: Well, that's it for the reapings. A lot of promises have been made to come home, whose will be the true one? I don't even know! Please vote for your favorite tribute on my profile!**


	8. Chariot Rides

**AN: Hi! Sorry for the lack of updates this past weekend, I was super busy, but alas, that is no excuse. So here we are with the chariots. I have decided to forgo the prepping because I am too lazy to make up that many names. Although, I got one amazing prep team so I might feature them before the arena. Anyway, one thing was mentioned about moving districts – the only reason she was able to move was because her mom was a victor. We will just pretend it works. I forgot to open the poll when I posted the last chapter but it is open now, so please go vote in it! Finally, I apologize for my poor sentence structure since it will be very similar. And I apologize for the length of this author's note.**

Parade of Chariots

Sequin stepped into the chariot, waiting impatiently for her partner. She was very much in love with her dress. She was wearing a white sundress that was coated in gemstones. Every one of her favorite stones was featured on the dress, especially amethyst. She knew the dress must have cost a fortune and she loved it even more for that. She couldn't wait to get out in the lights and dazzle the crowd. Sam walked up the aisle of chariots, not looking at anyone. A few of the girls' heads turned as he walked by but he paid no attention. He joined Sequin in the chariot and straightened his tie. He was in a more understated form of Sequin's costume that was mostly red and black stones, that he was sure would dazzle capitol audiences, despite his distaste for the gaudiness of the costume. Their chariot began to move and both of them plastered smiles on their faces. Sequin instantly began to work the crowd, flipping the part of her hair that wasn't piled on her head, blowing kisses, and twirling her dress. Sam smiled, but was more reserved in general and waved politely to the audience.

Royal looked down at his costume sullenly. He hated that they were paraded out to Panem like meat, or in his case, a rock. He was wearing a bulky suit that was in shades of gray. His partner, Sage looked beyond angry at the choice in costuming. Sage in reality, was trying to figure out how to alter it quickly before she was ruined in front of the audience. Her dress was baggy and she was in the ugliest shade of gray imaginable. She finally began to tear parts of the dress strategically. She had a long slit on the side of the dress and she used the extra material to cinch the dress in tighter around her waist. Then she tore more parts of the dress to give it holes and show off her newly polished skin. Royal looked on in amazement at her rashness in her situation. She smiled at him and said "oh sorry, do you want me to fix your costume too?" Royal grinned and replied "no thanks." Their stylists walked up and looked scandalized at her adjustments before stomping off, irritated at this brash girl. The tributes felt their carriage begin rolling and they both smiled and waved appreciatively to the audience, right between overdoing it and being completely closed off.

Sky looked down at the dress that the stylists had put her in, despite her severe protests. She was wearing basically wires. It was a dress completely woven from wires and there was a battery pack attached to the dress that allowed various wires to glow with electricity. The electricity is supposedly non-lethal but she was more than concerned. Also, there were various holes in the dress which showed off more skin than she was used to. She didn't mind the boys in district three looking at her but she didn't want an entire country audience staring at the open skin. Leo stepped into the chariot and looked at Sky curiously. She gave him a death glare and Leo grinned at her. "You know, it could be worse." Sky muttered angrily back, "oh yeah, how?" Leo replied "Well, you could be barely wearing any wires…at least you are mostly covered." Sky turned her back to him and he could hear her muttering behind him. He tried to adjust the wires on his jacket but the chariot jolted them forward. They ignited the battery packs and looked at each other as they approached the first screen, sparking with fake electricity. Sky and Leo smiled politely at the cameras, but didn't wave. Leo looked at the audience curiously and poked his jacket, trying to figure out how the costume worked. Sky attempted to cover the holes in the costume.

Jaz stood uneasily in her chariot and tried to stay away from the large presence of Quintley, no easy task when he took up a large part of the chariot. Jaz was wearing a fishnet dress where her breasts and lower regions were covered by small pieces of fabric. The dress was a dark blue color and stood out prominently on her body. She was used to wearing bikinis at home so this wasn't a big deal. Quintley was much more inhibited as he was basically covered in fishnets. The chariot was rigged with bubbles that would start once the chariot started. Quintley looked like he wanted to curl up in the bottom of the chariot. He regularly hid from people in the district so he was not looking forward to being paraded out. Jaz wasn't overly happy either, but she knew that if she played it right, she would get some sponsors from this. Jaz placed a huge smile on her face and swayed her hips sexily on the chariot, acting like she'd seen the girls do at school when they wanted to get noticed. Quintley shot her a look but she ignored him. He stood completely still and glared off at the audience, his muscles glistening in the capitol lights.

Cynthia was wearing a lot, a lot of lace. She felt like the mummies that she had learned about in school. She was wrapped in DNA patterned lace. It was an attempt to make a nod to the splicing of DNA that occurred in district 5, but she felt very exposed. The lace wrapped around her body, in an extremely tight dress. The lace was pure white. Logan was wearing a black shirt and black pants that were wrapped in the same lace. He felt like a girl and was not happy about what he was wearing. He thought the lace was a little much. The two of them smiled to each other, knowing they each were uncomfortable and as their chariot pulled away, they smiled and waved politely to the audience, trying to look confident, although their outfits made them feel anything but.

Cliff and Klarissa were wearing the quintessential district 6 costume of syringes, but with a twist. They had managed to get glowing liquid inside the syringe and that was what was keeping their skin from showing. It glowed blue, highlighting both of their eyes. They looked at each other nicely and held hands, trying to look united so that they might get more sponsors. They knew that they needed to work the crowd because they wouldn't stand out well otherwise. They smiled and waved graciously and the audience chanted their names, enthralled by the glowing syringes.

Aidan and Anna were dressed as lumberjacks. Aidan was wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans and Anna was wearing a yellow shirt and tight blue jeans too but the shirt was cut lower. She held his hand as well as those from the group before them, although she ended up putting her arm around him, holding him like a mom would. They looked sullenly at the crowd, knowing that no smiles would save their lives in the arena, only hoping that they would still make a good impression.

Kendal looked at the mess that was on her body and sighed. It didn't look that bad honestly, but it just looked like the sewing machine kind of exploded. Every type of fabric that was available was a part of it. There was satin, cotton, and everything. Nick wore a patchwork jacket and pants with a plain white shirt underneath. Kendal secretly thought that her outfit was mildly more impressive than his. Hers had an uneven hem line and she did like it, even if it was a mishmash. At least her outfit was still flattering. Nick's seemed odd to her. Nick wasn't all that fond of the jacket himself, there were some itchy parts and he didn't like it. He knew that playing up the audience could save him though so as his chariot pulled out, he smiled and charmed the audience as best he could. Kendal worked off of him and smiled greatly, waving and blowing kisses at the crowd.

Andy and Miranda were unhappy to say the least. They were covered in food. Miranda was sneezing up a storm, her asthma triggered by wheat and fruit that covered her body. Andy looked at her with pity and tried to offer her a tissue, but realized he didn't have one. Miranda sneezed up a storm and the chariot began moving. Andy smiled happily at everyone as Miranda continued to sneeze. The capitol audiences were trying to back away from the chariot and looking at the other chariots, trying to avoid the buffet people.

Lynnie and Fenton were also the victims of overly creative stylists. They had gone with the product of livestock, meat. Lynnie was wearing a dress made of meat and Fenton's suit was made of bacon. The meat was cooked with the nicest spices the capitol had so it was giving off serious scents. Lynnie wanted to eat the steak off her body due to her pregnancy cravings, but she also didn't want to show off the wonders of pregnancy to the entire country. She held off on eating her dress and looked at Fenton. Fenton was nibbling on the bacon at the bottom of the suit and he gave some to Lynnie who smiled happily. Their chariot left and the capitol audience looked repulsed. They couldn't believe that the stylists had this up their sleeves. Lynnie and Fenton tried to smile but the audience's reaction was enough for them to lose their smiles.

Katie and Tris looked at each other. Their outfits were interesting to be sure, they were dressed in wheat. It seemed as though the stylists were going for raw materials for the later districts. It was only lucky that district 2 wasn't wearing rocks. Katie had a skirt made of wheat and her shirt was woven from wheat. Tris was wearing a suit woven in the same way that her shirt was. They actually were rather creative and attractive outfits. The chariot had more wheat sticking up so it looked like they were in a field. They smiled and waved to the audience, who looked at them curiously before seemingly accepting them. They screamed their names like so many of the others and it was clear that their outfits were very popular with the audience.

Cane and Vic were surprised with their costumes. Vic was wearing a dress with thin slivers of coal all over it. She was actually shining in the light and it looked rather inspiring. Cane had a jumpsuit and it was covered in slivers of coal as well. He looked comfortable, his main thought was that he was glad he wasn't naked. Vic wasn't actually paying much attention to her costume, she was focused on the chariots that had already left, unable to take her eyes off of the shining Sam from District 1. _Talk about star crossed lovers_ she thought bitterly to herself. Their chariot began to move and she smiled. Cane took the serious approach like a few of the others and stared over the audience. They were pleasantly surprised by the district 12 audience. Vic waved amiably at the audience, hoping to get a sponsor or two.

**AN: There you go, here's the chariots. I am going to give you training scores tomorrow and the alliances. Those will be quite a surprise. I don't think doing training would go to well and I am looking forward to the story. So, after training scores will be the interviews and then PLEASE vote on the poll. Low votes equals death! :) May the odds be **_**ever **_**in your favor!**


	9. Training Scores and Alliances

**AN: Alright, here are the training scores and what they specialized in. Although that doesn't really matter because you'll find all that out later. Anyways, after the scores, I listed the initial alliances and a basic reasoning behind them. They are pretty surprising. Remember scores are out of 12.**

Sam – 10 – bow and arrows

Sequin – 10 – swordplay

Royal – 8 – bow and arrows

Sage – 10 – general fighting and using rather unusual things in her favor

Leo - 5 - trap making

Skylar (Sky) – 6 – swords and climbing to use them

Quintley – 11 – double bladed staff and serious fighting skills

Jasmine (Jaz) – 10 – climbing to use a sais (sword with 2 blades on sides)

Logan – 7 – bow and arrow

Cynthia – 4 – camouflage

Cliff – 5 – basic knife fighting skills

Klarissa – 7 – demonstration of skills with a knife and how to cause the most pain to a human body

Aidan – 5 – axe skills

Annaliese (Anna) – 4 – axe skills and climbing

Nick – 6 – knives and camouflage

Kendal - 8 – knife and spear throwing

Andy – 3 – climbing and running

Miranda – 5 – axe and double bladed sword

Fenton - 7 – knife hand to hand combat

Lynnie – 4 – throwing knives

Tristan – 5 – basic sword handling

Katie – 8 – knife throwing and medicine skills

Cane – 9 – hand to hand combat, threw weights, ran around

Victoria – 10 – spears, tridents, and net climbing

Alliances

Career Pack –

Sam, Sequin, Sage, Jaz, Cliff, and Vic

**Vic would have been a career if she hadn't moved, Cliff is insanely strong – the rest are normal careers.**

Influenced by circumstance –

Royal, Cynthia, Lynnie

**Lynnie is pregnant as is Royal's girl so he wants to prove himself.**

Loners –

Quintley and Cane

**Quintley refuses to ally and Cane hates the games so much that he just doesn't care.**

District 8 –

Nick and Kendal

**Allied on train and are sticking to it.**

Trusting ones –

Leo and Andy

**Both have issues of being too trusting so they end up together.**

Mothering group –

Aidan, Anna, Katie, Tris

**Anna and Aidan stuck together and liked Katie and Tris from training. They decided to group together**

Miscellaneous –

Sky, Logan, Klarissa, Miranda, Fenton

**All wanted allies and simply talked during training and grouped together.**

**AN: Tomorrow is the interviews – maybe. I have a lot of other things to do tomorrow as well. Please think about voting for your favorite tributes! Happy hunger games!**


	10. Interviews Districts 1 to 6

**AN: Welcome to the interviews. This is going to be a freaking long chapter. Basically I am going to give you their outfits, because who doesn't like pretty clothes, and a quote that exemplifies the tribute at this point.**

District 1

Sequin stepped up to the couch with Cesar who was sporting an emerald green wig this year. She practically screamed sex in her sheer dress that hugged every curve of her well developed body. It sparkled in the lights and her smile only enhanced the effect. She flirted every chance she got with Cesar and the audience and when he said "surely a pretty girl like you won't be much of a killer…but that training score has got to make us wonder…" Sequin grinned and said very innocently "Sure, I'm just another pretty face. Wait for the Games to start." With that the bell rang and Sequin floated back to her seat.

Sam walked up to Cesar and sat proudly in his neatly tailored tuxedo. It was simple but had accents in glitter and showed off his clearly defined body. He turned the charm on and capitol girls began swooning at his words. Cesar picked up on this and said, "Sam, you gonna use this charm to your advantage in the arena?" Sam grinned and said, "It's already working." With that he turned around and blew a kiss at Victoria from district 12 who blushed in response. The bell rang before more could be said so the audience waited in anticipation of Vic's interview.

District 2

Sage walked up to the Cesar and kissed him on the cheek. He grinned and sat down with the girl wearing a short cheetah print dress, accented with red on the edges of it. Sage giggled at practically everything Cesar said and when he asked her "are you always so giddy?" She immediately stopped laughing and smiled sweetly at the camera, "what do you think? Do you think I will be giggling like a little girl in the arena? Or do you think I will kill just like the rest of them?" Cesar nearly froze at this but Sage started laughing again, so no one could really tell if she was kidding or not.

Royal was wearing a white suit with a cheetah print cravat (it's a type of tie) and a polished stone pin. He walks up to Cesar with less gusto than the others thus far and shakes his hand. Cesar instantly asks about his home life and he drops the bomb of his girl back home being pregnant with his child. The audience gasps and Cesar asks him "So I take it that you are going to make it back to her?" Royal places a stern look on his face and says "I will fight until it's not possible to fight anymore to get back to take care of my child. I will not doom them to a life without their father." Cesar smiled at his determinism and changed topics, bringing a quick smile to everyone's face before the interview ended.

District 3

Sky strode to Cesar with a confident air about her. She was wearing a green evening gown that matched her sea green eyes exactly. She smiled politely and she and Cesar began to crack jokes. Sky was witty…and rather sarcastic about everything. She smiled in a mysterious way that made some of the audience members uneasy. It was as though her laughter was even sarcastic and she was simply putting this all on as a face. Cesar asked "what are you thinking the arena is gonna be like?" Sky grinned and said "a pit of lava, they just want to kill us anyway…" The audience looked at each other nervously before she burst into laughter and said "just kidding! Gosh, your faces. Maybe it will be a bamboo forest…" Her time ended and the audience breathed a sigh of relief as she left the stage.

Leo walked up in a black button-down shirt, black pants, and a tie that matched Sky's dress. He smiled dazedly at Cesar as he began the interview. He asked about his pastimes and he instantly began talking about the inventions he was working on at home. Cesar seemed to know quite a bit and they went back and forth about his ideas. It greatly showed off his intelligence. Right before time ended, Cesar asked "any last things you want to tell our viewers?" Leo smiled a real smile, which made him look extremely attractive and said, "I just like to invent…maybe if I win, I can make new things, things for all of you." He smiled one last time and then left as the buzzer sounded.

District 4

Jaz was dressed in a light blue dress with light brown accents. It had a jewel on the waist and only one shoulder. It accented her thin waist and she looked very calm in it. She stepped up to Cesar and he asked about her family. She spoke softly about how much she cared for them and the entire audience was leaning to catch every word. She may have been shy, but her family was the most important thing in her world and she spoke with such sincerity and honesty about them that the audience wanted to know all about her. Cesar asked her "what are you afraid of?" and her face fell instantly. She thought about lying but her mentor had told her that it wouldn't help her cause. She spoke as soft as she could when she said "being left alone." Cesar put a hand on her bare shoulder as she regained herself as the buzzer rang. She gave the audience a last smile and sat back down.

Quintley looked like a completely different person than who entered the capitol. He had been completely made over and most importantly cleaned, despite his best protests. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and brown slacks. He intimidated the entire audience before he had even spoken a word. He didn't bother smiling and answered Cesar's questions shortly. He was clearly going for the intimidating approach until Cesar asked him one last question. "What would you do with your life if you came out of the arena alive?" Quintley's eyes softened some and he spoke with a slight tenderness in his voice. "I would like to become a peacekeeper and then maybe settle down and get a nice wife and have a family." The capitol audience was taken aback at his tenderness as he left to return to the other tributes.

District 5

Cynthia wore a slinky black dress that shimmered slightly in the light. She had a huge weight on her shoulders, knowing what she had to reveal during these interviews to blow the crowd off their feet. She walked to Cesar with a smile on her face and had polite small talk before he finally asked the question she had been praying he would. "Well, you look quite gorgeous tonight, Cynthia, is there a boy at home that you're missing?" She grinned and nodded happily. Cesar picked up on this and said "want to tell the viewers more about him?" She lost some of her smile here and said "well, he is my world. And more than anything I need to get home to him." Cesar noticed her nearing disclosing something seemingly important and said "Why? Is he sick?" Cynthia shook her head sadly, "no, I'm 3 months pregnant with his baby." The buzzer rang as murmurs spread like wildfire through the audience. She stood and walked away, not saying another word, but the sheer sadness on her face telling the viewers everything they needed to know.

Logan walked up to Cesar, not really knowing how he was going to follow that. He wore a black suit with a blue tie as it seemed that stylists wanted to match the eyes of their tributes this year. He spoke carefully and the audience and Cesar could tell that he was choosing his words very carefully. He was creating an air of mystery around him and you couldn't help but to be sucked in. Cesar asked him "you volunteered for your brother…what caused that?" Logan grimaced and said "well, sending my paralyzed brother here who can't live without his chair seemed like an instant death sentence. At least with me here, he has a shot to live and maybe get better care and be taken care of." Cesar nodded knowingly at this and he smiled at him. "Any last words?" Logan shook his head, preferring to leave it at that.

District 6

Klarissa's stylist put her in an electric blue floorlength dress that accented the shades of blue in her eyes and hair. She looked stunning in it and walked to Cesar calmly. They talked about meaningless things and Cesar asked her about her favorite things back home. She mentioned that she liked to sing and after the audience chanted for a little bit, she smiled and sang a few lines of one her favorite songs _"If I die young, bury me in satin, lay me down on a bed of roses, sink me in the river, at dawn, send me away with the words of a love song."_ The whole crowd went wild and they all complemented her voice although there were clearly tears in her eyes. Before the buzzer could go off, Cesar asked "was that dedicated to someone?" She nodded sadly "Yes, my best friend, she died in these games a few years ago." The audience all sighed in sadness and applauded as she returned to her seat.

Cliff's stylist wanted to coordinate as so many districts do so he was wearing a white button-down shirt with a tie made of the same material as Klarissa's dress and black pants. He walked up to Cesar and shook his hand heartily. Cesar began to talk with him and before too long, he was talking a up a score. The next thing everyone knew was that Cliff said, "I hate everything evil, but mostly pickles. I also love my squirrel, his name is Jeffrey. I love him more than anything else in the world." The audience looked at each other confusedly and Cesar quickly found a way to salvage the interview. "So, I take it you won't be killing many animals in the arena?" Cliff scowled and said "Of course not. But people are a much different story. All of these people had better watch their backs."

**AN: Ok, so due to the ridiculous amount of work that these interviews are, I have split them into 2 days. Sorry about that. **


	11. Interviews Districts 7 to 12

**AN: Second half of interviews!**

District 7

Anna stepped forward to meet Cesar and everyone was taken aback. She wasn't wearing shoes. Her dress was white with embroidered gold leaves. She was playing with the gold bracelet on her wrist. Cesar noticed this and after some polite conversation, he asked her about it. She told the story of her parent's deaths and the crowd oohed and aahed at all the right times. Cesar asked her quietly at the end of her story "what do you think they would have told you if they were here?" She sniffled a little and said "they would want me to fight my way back like hell to come home, and that is what I will do." Her time was then up and she left to return to her seat.

Aidan stepped up and greeted Cesar. He was wearing a white suit with a gold shirt underneath. Cesar smiled and they began to talk. Aidan gave off an air of innocence, being the youngest, but still rather strong and tough. His upper body muscles were defined although his faced still made him look young. Cesar asked him "do you think the odds are stacked against you in this competition?" Aidan gave a small smile and said "well, I'm not going to tell you my strategy, but I think I still have a fighting chance. After all, you never know, I may be hiding something important inside that just might escape and let me take a bunch of all these guys out!" Aidan chuckled and Cesar smiled at his confidence. The buzzer rang and Aidan returned to his seat, ignoring the scoffs that were coming from all around him.

District 8

Kendal walked to Cesar with a genuine smile on her face. She was wearing an empire waist dress with bright geometric patterns all over it. It perfectly matched how fun and happy she was. She and Cesar went back and forth with some of her favorite jokes from her district, keeping the audience in stitches. She was grinning constantly, and if you didn't know any better, you'd think that she would have been talking to one of her good friends. Cesar stopped laughing from her last joke and said "well, that is some dress…it's quite unique isn't it?" Kendal looked down and said, "Yes, I like it a lot, it suits me well, but these outfits I've been put in so far are off the chain insane!" The capitol audience laughed louder this time, and the buzzer rang, which made the audience groan in disappointment. Cesar said, "well it seems they like you!" She grinned as she sat down.

Nick was dressed in a jacket that matched the fabric of Kendal's dress with a white shirt and pants. He stepped up to Cesar rather timidly and spoke softly with him. Cesar talked to him about his family and his girlfriend back home. He wasn't overly memorable but he did speak honestly. Cesar, looking to display the best in Nick, asked him "what do you think about the games so far?" Nick looked nervously at this question and said "well right now it feels like a beauty pageant, but tomorrow, will start the part that all of us dread, there is nothing we can do to stop it though." Cesar smiled at this, showing that Nick was honest, and soft-spoken, but he had determination which was evident.

District 9

Miranda glided forward in a silvery dress with white leaves all around it. The dress had a square neckline and sleeves that draped all the way to floor. She had very dramatic makeup on and she looked very elegant. She sat with Cesar who started off by talking about the surprise of her being reaped, and asking about what everyone back home thought. She talked about how her family accepted her fate but she seemed kind of bitter about it. "Well, is there anyone back home who you want to get back to?" "Oh yes, my best friend, Emily, but she is suffering from influenza. She needs medicine, so I am fighting for my life and her life." Cesar and many audience members wiped tears from their eyes at this revelation. Cesar wished her good luck and the buzzer signaled her back to her seat.

Andy wore a white suit with black shirt and white hat and tie for his interview. He lounged on the seat provided and told Cesar all about why he was frightened of zebras. This story had the audience in stitches but they could tell it was a true story. He then told a couple riddles which showed off his intelligence. Cesar asked him "what are you going to do to come out of these games alive?" Andy grinned and showed off a nice set of teeth, "outwit these fools. My mind is a more powerful weapon than a sword any day." Cesar looked surprised but nodded nonetheless. The interview ended and Andy returned to his seat, thinking about everything that was going on.

District 10

Lynnie walked forward unsteadily in the yellow empire-waisted maternity dress with red sash that her stylist put her in. She walked to Cesar who started straight in on talking about her surprising pregnancy. She talked about her parents not accepting her and that changing once the games threw her in. She also talked about the father making a turn around and hoping that she could return home to raise her twins in peace. This caused another gasp in the audience. Cesar asked "did you say twins?" Lynnie blushed and nodded, "yes, I am fighting for three lives in this arena, so I guess that there are actually 27 tributes this year, with my twins and Cynthia's child." The audience was silent at this revelation and the buzzer rang, sending Lynnie back to her chair.

Fenton strode to Cesar in his gray business suit and smiled. He talked about how he tripped on the train on the way here and received instant help from a medical team. This led him to believe that he was being watched constantly so he kept looking around wherever he went. The audience chuckled. Fenton spoke again "Even now, why do I feel like someone is watching me?" He looked around, grinning as Cesar continued the interview. Fenton was charming and the ladies liked him. He was sure to get a few sponsors from his amusing interview.

District 11

Katie fidgeted in the violet dress adorned with long vertical lines of sparkles that her stylist put her in. She was skinny so it accented her small waist and the dress covered her lack of a chest. It fanned out around her legs. She knew she looked lovely in it but it was still kind of uncomfortable. She put on a smile as she approached Cesar though and shook his hand. She sat down and he began to talk with her. They quickly reached the subject of her family. She talked about her aunt and brother with Cesar and everyone could tell just how much she cared for them. He asked her "what do you want most if you get out of the arena?" Katie looked taken aback but regained composure quickly "I want to go back home to my brother. He is my whole world and I miss him already." It was clear to the audience that she was practically his mother and they all felt for her. She walked slowly back to her seat and watched as the rest of the interviews continued.

Tris wore a shirt that matched the color of Katie's dress and a silver tie. He walked up to Cesar and shook his hand. He made some jokes with him like many of the other tributes had. He actually did make some good jokes and the audience really seemed to like him. Cesar asked him about the reaping, when he called out a girl's name. Tris blushed and said "Kaylin is my best friend, and I have just recently come to terms that I love her." The audience awed and Cesar said "do you really think there is a chance that you will ever see her again?" Tris had a stern look on his face that broke instantly. He shrugged and said "Without hope, you have nothing to stand on. And without anything to stand on, you sure as hell'l be sinkin' fast."

District 12

Vic was wearing a slate blue dress that clung suggestively to her figure. She walked nervously to Cesar. He announced her name and the capitol audience recognized it instantly. He talked to her about her parents both being victors and she said "well, I just hope it gets me some sponsors." Then he brought up what Sam had done and she blushed. "Is there a romance brewing there?" Vic nodded and the whole audience leaned in to find out the facts. "He is handsome, and he comes from my dad's district. He kissed me the first day we were here. I know it is not the smartest idea, but I can't help who I fall for…" The audience sighed and Cesar smiled. "Well, we wish you the best of luck, Vic and Sam"

Cane walked up for the final interview in a dark grey shirt and black pants. He spoke gruffly to Cesar, who was unable to break through his tough shell at first. Finally, Cesar brought up his sister and a light changed in Cane's eyes, who quickly covered it to hide his weakness. He continued with the interview and Cesar asked him "so are you going to hide in the arena or fight?" Cane's eyes lit up and he grinned evilly to the camera and said "I am going to kill. I will use the strength I have worked for so long to build to kill my way back to district 12 and my family." When he mentioned his family his gaze softened slightly but he once again covered it quickly. He strode back to his seat after the buzzer and sat down, ignoring how Vic was attempting to scoot further away from him and distance herself.

**AN: Ok, tomorrow's chapter will be shortish probably around 500-1000 words and it will be a description of the setup of the arena. I will not be posting this weekend. PLEASE, please vote on your favorite tributes on my profile. I need to know who I can kill without getting angry reviews. You know the tributes, please review and tell me what you think. **


	12. Arena Description

**AN: I am featuring Fenton here because I got a really terrific prep team from Fifidear for him. Following the description of him entering the arena, we will have the description of the arena with slight character focuses. **

Let the Games Begin…

Fenton dragged his feet out of bed, being dragged by his escort, Junelle, to the room where his prep team was waiting. He groaned as he saw them. Not surprisingly Sandalio, his stylist, was staring at himself in the mirror, adjusting strands of his pink hair so it sat just right. Fenton longed to go mess it up, but the arena impending upon him made him resist. He sat down in a chair and was surrounded by Audrey and Lennox. Audrey immediately went to work on his face, applying powders and creams. Fenton grimaced, which earned him a stern look from Audrey. He didn't understand why it was necessary, it was all going to get destroyed in the arena anyway.

Lennox was putting things into his hair and when he finally got to open his eyes, he saw he was crying freely. He looked at him curiously and he said "I just can't believe you might die, and then we'd never see you again!" Audrey groaned from the corner and said "suck it up Lennox, it's not that big of a deal, someone has to pay for the rebellion all those years ago." Lennox sniffled and nodded but said "It's still so sad…I'll miss you Fenton." Sandalio finally dragged himself from the mirror and glared at the other two who left the room. Sandalio helped Fenton get into the wardrobe required. It was a pair of black pants with long fluorescent stripes on them and a black jacket with the same stripes on the arms. There was a t-shirt for underneath the jacket that was white and then there was a pair of generic sneakers. Fenton got it all on and entered the hovercraft that would take him to the arena.

In the hovercraft, they inputted a tracking chip and then the lights went out. He heard the voice of someone from the capitol and he turned towards it. The voice was right beside him when it said "Here, put these on, you can't wear these in the light or it'll mess with your eyes." He felt something odd hit his hands and another pair of hands helping him put them on. The other pair of hands guided his hands to the on/off switch and when it was switched on, he gasped. They were night vision goggles. He had never seen something like this in the games before and he wondered what was awaiting him.

The tributes were lowered into the arena and they looked around the green world. The night vision goggles were the only thing enabling them to see. They could barely make out the person on the opposite side of the cornucopia. This worried many people as it would be excessively harder to see them coming and could cause them to be dead of a sneak attack.

Attention moved from the tributes around the cornucopia to the cornucopia itself. It seemed to be filled with water. This was surprising so they instantly looked for food and weapons.

Vic looked all around her, moving gingerly in her designated space and noticed a trident lying 20 feet behind her. All of the other tributes noticed their choice weapons lying behind them as well. This was a good sign. Sequin was the first to notice that not only was the room they were in completely dark (hence the need for night vision goggles) but it seemed to be a cave. Behind each tribute was also a pathway that would allow them to further themselves from the cornucopia, but it would take them away from a surefire water source. Sequin vowed to take the water source for herself and the other careers. If other tributes were able to, they could grab a bottle lying around them and quickly get some water from the cornucopia if they were quick enough. It wouldn't be easy though.

No countdown had begun yet so the tributes looked around curiously, wondering what would happen next. A couple of people said "hello?" which echoed in the cavernous space, confirming the idea that it was a series of caves. It was evident that plants would be in short supply here, or at least likely would, no one knew what laid down the paths behind them. As the tributes attempted to figure out a strategy, the gamemaker's voice came on an intercom system. "Hello tributes! Welcome to the 19th Hunger Games!" The countdown finally began and final plans formed in most heads. Focusing on the countdown, they braced themselves for the fight of their lives, in this, the 19th Hunger Games.

**AN: Ok, Here is the cost for items for the first day.**

**bread 5**

**3 bottles water 10**

**Heat (of some kind) 15**

**basic first aid 20**

**capitol food 25**

**serious medicine 50**

**Hope you like the arena! Please vote so I know who not to kill. May the odds be **_**ever**_** in your favor!**


	13. A Special POV

**AN: So, I was reading "how not to make your tribute suck" and I noticed that no one does Gamemaker POV. I figured I could switch to first person for a little while and do a chapter here or there. Plus, I thought you might want to see a little bit more about this very interesting arena. The poll has been closed and I will probably be posting the first chapter of the games themselves tomorrow.**

The Arena Headquarters

Gamemaker POV (best name for **him** gets 15 bonus sponsor points)

I watched as utter chaos erupted at the sound of the buzzer. I chuckled softly to myself. If only they really knew what was going on. I was honored to be chosen as head gamemaker. I had worked with the last two gamemakers so I knew what kind of tricks to pull, plus I had a few of my own ideas up my sleeve.

The arena headquarters featured a huge room. There were screens on all of the walls, broadcasting footage of every tribute letting us see them all at once. Once we had decided on this arena, we commissioned special cameras which let us see the tributes in full color. We also got very special night vision goggles. They were smaller than regular ones and came with extra features. We had to get smaller ones because we knew capitol viewers would want to see their faces.

In addition to the screens on all of the walls, the headquarters had a huge panel of buttons on one wall. There was a special keycard slot because only the head gamemaker could change what was happening on this board. Employees had a different keycard that enabled them to change basic things per the gamemaker's instructions, such as temperature.

In another section of the room, there were tubes sticking up from the ground. They looked suspicious but all the employees knew that these tubes went straight to the arena. This room was actually situated directly above the arena, but seeing as the arena was a cave, it was impossible for the tributes to know that.

Finally, there was a row of cages on the bottom of one of the walls, displaying all of the capitol's mutts. Most employees stayed clear of there when they could, in simple fear of the various pet projects of the capitol. They knew they were dangerous because the cages were bulletproof and smashproof.

I looked at the screens again, wondering how long it would be until the tributes started figuring things out. They had no sky, so where exactly would the parachutes come from? I was hoping that upon realizing this, the tributes would panic, because without sponsors, this set of games was going to end quickly. I had noticed the many sad stories during the interviews, thereby securing many sponsors. That would be a good thing since there was almost no normal food in the arena. Also, the cornucopia was one of the only sources of water and judging by the looks of things I was seeing in the monitors, no one was getting past the careers to it, now that they had secured it.

I looked over at the tubes sticking up from the ground. We had designed this arena with a series of tubes above it and we could drop things from the ceiling. We could drop nearly _anything_ from here, well, as long as it fit into the tubes. Not only that, but we designed this arena with some pretty special features, designed to destroy the tributes from the inside out. There were sealing doors all around them that had been sucked into the ground at the start so that the tributes wouldn't know what was coming.

We study all children from the ages of 12 to 18 in the districts, trying to determine what might send them over the edge in these games, not wanting to lack in entertainment. Then, after the reapings, my team and I head to the districts and interview their families and friends, trying to figure out exactly how to torture them. We give them a truth serum after the year that a family lied about a girl's fear of snakes which ended up allowing her to take out the entire career pack.

In this case, we were looking for things that would punish these tributes not only physically, but mentally. We had a stroke of luck when Sequin's family from district one mentioned she was afraid of the dark. The batteries on the night vision goggles would eventually run out, and then tributes would have to hope that they had fire to use, or maybe a flashlight. We found psychological things to destroy these tributes with, wanting to push them as far over the edge as possible, knowing that the capitol audience would love to see these tributes brutally battle each other and then more sponsors would come through, making this even more interesting.

I turned my head back to the screen and saw three bodies lying on the ground, and slid my card into the control hub, pushed a few buttons, and watched as the tributes nearby looked shocked as the series of tubes pulled their bodies out of the arena and sent them to the burial facility that we had attached to the arena.

Of course, I wouldn't make this set of games impossible for the tributes, if they look hard enough, they can find some real treasures in this maze of caves. Many of the tributes climbed things for their training display. I chuckled to myself when I saw that, knowing that climbing would be of little help here.

I turned my head back to the screen and smiled as the career pack surrounding the cornucopia muttered softly to themselves, looking very concerned.

**AN: hope you liked the different POV. One last thing to mention, the cave is like 15 feet high, and width of the caverns depends. The arena with the cornucopia is maybe 50 feet wide but still has these low ceilings.**


	14. Bloodbath!

**AN: Woo hoo! I am back and we are ready for some more action! I used the poll to determine who would be dying and I am happy with the results. Happy Hunger Games!**

**One last thing, all the tributes are wearing empty backpacks…they'll need them.**

Day One

Sequin was looking wildly around at the other careers, trying to tell them that they were taking the cornucopia. A source of water would be key to win these games. Finally the buzzer rang out and Sequin moved fast, grabbing the sword lying behind her and heading to the cornucopia. She stood at the edge of the cornucopia and the other careers began to surround it as well. A couple tributes, Royal and Sky managed to get a bottle of water before taking off. Nick ran up to get Kendal and himself some water but he happened to get into Sequin's path. She spun around quickly and got him with her sword. She stabbed accurately and slid her sword back out, taking his knife and backpack. She cleaned her sword on his clothes before turning back to look at the few tributes left in the area.

Sam stood looking around as they waited for the buzzer to sound, starting the games. He noticed Sequin catching his eye but he ignored her, focusing on the bow behind him and the bow in the next tunnel. Logan was looking at that bow like a lifeline, knowing that without it, he was dead. He planned to race to it but he didn't notice Sam staring at it. The buzzer went off and movement started. Sam grabbed his own bow and managed to get to Logan with his arrow pointed to his throat.

"Drop your bow." Sam said forcefully.

Logan slowly put the bow down and felt his eyes fill with tears. Sam was a career; he wasn't going to even make it past the bloodbath. He felt as useless as his paralyzed brother would have been in these games. He never even got to make a shot. Sam hesitated but regained his senses as he took Logan's bow and shot him neatly with it, retrieving the arrow he used to kill him with. Sam jogged over to help the other careers at the cornucopia, but he realized that few people were actually there anymore, they seemed to have realized it would have been a suicide mission at that point.

Cane was fleeing down a pathway in the cave when he heard more footsteps sauntering towards him. He pressed himself against the wall, not an easy feat considering his size. He had already slid the brass knuckles that were given to him on his hands, making him a formidable opponent. The footsteps slowed and Cane saw a large figure approaching through his goggles. He gasped to himself, realizing that he couldn't actually use hiding in the shadows if it was entirely dark. Quintley stepped up to him and spun his staff quickly, allowing Cane to hear the blades slicing the air. Cane took a step forward and slammed his fist into Quintley's chest. Quintley took a step back before swinging his staff around, and slicing deep gashes in Cane's chest. Cane howled in pain and Quintley slammed the now weakened boy to the ground. Quintley took his backpack and goggles. He left Cane there, letting him suffer for even bothering to attempt to defend himself against him.

Cane laid there whimpering in pain, almost wishing someone would come to finish him off. Tears of pain dominated his eyes and he whispered softly to himself, muttering, remembering the happiest times of his life. His friends wouldn't even care about his death, they never knew how much he hated these games. He knew his sister would be crying now and he reached his shaking hand to his neck and touched his pendant, closing his eyes to at least make it easier on his sister by dying in peace, despite the pain that was taking over his body.

Royal ran through the corridors, praying he was going in the right direction. Cynthia had helped Lynnie down her path since they had been standing next to each other in the circle. The two women had managed to get to a small alcove they could hide in. Royal finally found them and handed them the bottle of water. He had taken one sip and they needed it more than him. He really hoped his girlfriend was watching because he wanted her to realize that he could take care of them as a family.

Cynthia handed the bottle to Lynnie who gulped greedily. Cynthia took the bottle from her and said "This is all we've got, we need to make it last." Lynnie looked guilty and put her hands in her lap. Cynthia took a small sip before giving the bottle back to Royal. He put it away in his back pack and stood up, walking around the small alcove.

"Well, it doesn't seem like there is any wood in here, I suppose we could get some sparks by hitting rocks but we have nothing to burn."

Cynthia said "what about our backpacks? Couldn't we burn one of those?"

Royal grimaced and said "what if we need it later?"

Cynthia shot back "what if it starts to get really cold tonight?"

"The backpack won't last long, they're small."

"Well—"

Lynnie yelled "shut up! Do you guys want us to get found?" She lowered her voice, "Royal, go look in a very close radius for any food or wood. We will be safe here. Whistle a small tune before you walk back in and then we will know not to attack."

Cynthia laid on the ground and shivered. It wasn't cold in the arena, but the stone floor wasn't exactly good at keeping heat. She spoke to Lynnie "and here I thought you would be the one in fights with all those hormones in you."

Lynnie rolled over, she was lying down too, and said "well I have gotten used to them, and if I am going to survive this, I need to be in control."

Cynthia nodded and stared around the cave with her goggles, hoping that Royal would find something.

Aidan had run out of the main arena area as fast as he could when the buzzer sounded. The other three in his alliance, Anna, Tris, and Katie, all followed him down his path. They found an alcove to hide out in and surveyed what they had gathered; listening for cannons, glad to all be safe.

They looked around their alcove and Tris wondered aloud "how are we going to get parachutes from sponsors? How do they even get rid of bodies in here? It's not big enough for a hovercraft."

Aidan looked nervously around, wondering the same thing now that Tris had brought it up.

Anna scooted closer to him and hugged him, saying "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough when we get a parachute of our own." Katie came over and joined their hug. Tris stood watch at the front of the alcove, wishing he had a mom in the arena like Aidan did. He needed his mom. He stepped away from the entrance and joined their hug.

Sky, Klarissa, Miranda and Fenton managed to get together after the cornucopia. Sky had gotten them water which they gratefully shared, knowing it wouldn't last long. They talked about how curious it was that they were basically given their choice weapons.

"Maybe they wanted us to be able to fight to our best abilities and show off to the capitol audience." Sky said.

"Maybe we get no sponsors." Klarissa suggested.

"We probably need our sponsors for water and food since there doesn't seem to be much." Fenton said.

Miranda scooted into the corner, shivering against the cool stone ground.

Klarissa approached her and said "are you alright?"

Miranda shook her head and whimpered "I have asthma, and there is dust everywhere. I also hate small spaces like this."

The other three felt horrible for her but knew there was nothing they could do. Suddenly, there was a click in the ceiling. They all snapped their heads to the ceiling and saw a silver parachute float down. Klarissa was closest and found the tag, "Fenton? It's for you."

Fenton was passed the package and opened it to find a bundle of wood and flint. He had a knife for his weapon and he looked to the ceiling and said "thanks."

They decided to wait until it got colder to make a fire, they only had so much wood. They split the wood between packs and explored inside their area and just outside, looking for something to help them, finding nothing, they all stayed hidden together, conserving their energy, knowing that they would need it before too long.

The careers at the cornucopia had made out well. They had the only reliable water source in the arena and all that was left behind by tributes hasty to leave. They each were able to get empty bottles left behind, giving them three bottles of water each.

Sam took Victoria to the side and they talked quietly, sitting to the side of the others. Sequin was smiling happily at Cliff, turning on the charm and they shared about their lives. Sage and Jaz were patrolling around the cavern, speaking as they circled. All in all the careers were pretty calm, waiting for an attack, just like the others.

**AN: alright…action is hard to write. I hope I did well. Please review and tell me who not to kill next. I need spider mutts! You know the arena, so get creative…10 points for a suggestion 10 more if I use it.**

**And to remind you: Logan, Cane and Nick died…please remember their families in this time of need.**


	15. Day One Continued

**AN: Alright, I have ideas of what will happen but this relatively short chapter needs to happen first. This will be interesting I hope. - Also, I update sponsor points on chapter one whenever I post a new chapter so if you don't know your points, go take a peek and let me know what you want for a tribute!**

Day One Continued

Andy and Leo walked down a cavern until they got to a dead end. Or at least, a seemingly dead end. The two boys pressed up against the stone, wondering if there was a secret passage somewhere. Nothing gave under their efforts but Leo felt a small bundle in one of the holes.

"Andy, come here."

"Did you find a way out?"

"No, but look what I found." He unwrapped the package in his hands and showed it to him.

"What is that?"

"It's bombs of some kind. Like grenades but it looks like they might be more powerful."

"Cool! Let's go take out the careers!"

"Andy, wait. I'm not sure about this."

"What's there to be sure of? Do you want them to kill you?"

"These are explosive bombs. If we detonate them in a cave, we might cause the entire cave to collapse. If we specifically go after the careers with them, then we might cut off the only known water source in the arena."

"Oh…and we wouldn't want to get trapped in the collapsing cave either huh?"

"No, not really."

"So what do we do then?"

"Well, we could use them in a smaller scale. We could cause small sections of areas to collapse since that would run a smaller risk of killing us at the same time."

"Good idea man! Let's go find someone!"

"What? You _want_ to kill people?"

"Well, it's kill or be killed, I might not like it but we have a pretty good weapon now, and you know how to use it."

"I guess. We can look for some people who might not notice us coming."

Gamemaker POV (this is a guy)

So the boys found the explosives…I kind of wanted them to try to blow up the main area. I wonder if they realize that since we planted those there, it isn't going to kill them easily. I personally had these designed with a special purpose in mind. Apparently not even district three has seen these kind of bombs for which I was very glad.

This would be quite a surprise once they actually used them.

Kendal was wandering through the caves, looking for someone, anyone. She was supposed to team up with Nick but she saw him die. He couldn't ally with her now. She was beginning to feel fear and fatigue catching up with her. The goggles she was forced to use weren't helping things since it made her area of vision very small and caused more fear.

She thought about her family and friends back home, and wondered what she would be doing if she wasn't in the games. She figured she'd be cheering for the tribute from her district, hoping they could make life better for them. She also would have made jokes with her friends about the silly careers. She missed them so much, and at the rate she was going, she knew she probably wouldn't see them again.

She couldn't do this to herself, she had to calm down and get a grip. She could still survive. Being alone was hard for her. Her mom and dad were always around or she was with her friends. Being alone was practically a foreign concept which is why she was so scared of it. If she didn't know any better, it's like the gamemakers killed Nick to isolate her. But she knew that Sam killed Nick for his weapon, of course the gamemakers put us in the circle so I guess they did kill him.

She still couldn't stop moving. It was like there was almost nowhere to hide either. She wanted to find someone, anyone who might be able to help her not be alone. She thought about going back to the careers but she figured they'd shoot first and talk later. She felt her burning legs; she'd been walking as fast as she could since the games had begun and sat down. She sobbed against the rough wall as quietly as she could, not wanting to be found by the wrong people.

Quintley had been walking around, looking for anyone weakened and ready to be preyed upon. He saw a huddled form at the end of this corridor and took slow steps toward her. He was determined to have her not see him coming. It wasn't overly difficult since she had her head buried. He finally managed to get to her and he quietly sat down in front of her. She slowly stopped crying and lifted her head up. If he had been able to see her eyes, they would have widened as she saw who was in front of her.

She hiccupped as she said "please, don't kill me. Can I work with you? I don't want to be alone."

Quintley smiled and said, "It's okay, you're going to be with Nick, your district partner now." And he plunged one end of his staff into her body. He took her supplies, like he had taken Cane's before and moved on, scoffing at the girls' gall for asking for his help.

A cannon went off in the arena and the tributes all looked nervously at each other, wondering who else just died, while two parents in district eight cried at the loss of their daughter.

**AN: Sorry Kendal, your time seemed to be up. Quintley won't win, don't worry, but many people don't want to kill so I had to use someone. What do you think is in the bombs? Hopefully a better update tomorrow when I can start using more ideas!**


	16. Day Two

**AN: Welcome back to the 19****th**** Hunger Games! A lot happens in this chapter, enjoy! :)**

Being underground, the tributes had no idea what time it was and when days began and ended. The anthem finally began to end day one and the tributes looked around, wondering where the projection would occur. It surprised all of the tributes when screens appeared in the ceilings in the rooms that they were in, displaying those who had died that day. The faces of Logan, Nick, Kendal, and Cane appeared and all the tributes sat in silence, remembering them, but knowing they were that much closer to getting back home, where they so longed to be.

Andy and Leo were still walking through the caves, trying to be as quiet as possible. Leo had been playing with the controls on his goggles curious about all the knobs. Suddenly he gasped.

"What, Leo? What happened?"

Leo didn't say anything. He turned the knob on Andy's goggles and he gasped as well.

"What is this?"

"It's heat vision. We can see in the dark and we can see heat. That's pretty helpful."

"Why?"

"Well, if we manage to find someone who has built a fire, we'll be able to see the heat coming off with this function."

"Oh…I get it. And if it gets much colder, that effect will even be more amplified so we might see people's heat too."

"Yep."

The guys kept walking and they suddenly heard faint voices. The two boys slid down along the ground and slowly approached. Leo pulled out one of the bombs and threw it into the cavern. He had triggered it before throwing it and he heard the beeping. There was a scurry of movement in the cavern and the beeping suddenly ceased. There was no sound at all. No one dared even breathe, no one knowing what was going to happen. Andy and Leo stood and quickly walked back the direction they came, not wanting to be seen. They lingered just down the hallway to see if anything happened.

Aidan, Anna, Katie, and Tris gave a deep sigh of relief and sucked air into their lungs. They were all relieved that nothing seemed to have affected them from the odd bomb. Suddenly, they felt a burning in their throats and they felt like they couldn't breathe. Katie took instant action and pulled Aidan to his feet. She wasn't about to let a child die, especially one that reminded her of her brother. They ran out of the cavern. The two remaining in the cavern tried to hold their breath and get out but they hadn't moved fast enough. Anna and Tris moved close together and held each other in their arms. Tris used his final breath to say "Tell Kaylin, I'll-I'll miss her." Anna felt tears running down her cheeks as she witnessed Tris' death and thought of her own. Her aunt would be so sad. She whispered "I'm so sorry" before she too closed her eyes and laid there with Tris.

At the careers camp, they were enjoying the luxuries of having water. They were starting to get hungry but they knew that water was more important for now. They were talking in the same groups as before. Sam and Vic were walking the perimeter as they were patrolling. Sequin was lying on the ground, trying to sleep, against her will. She tossed and turned, grumbling about what this was doing to her perfect hair. Sam stopped Vic with his arm and shushed the room of careers. He saw something small moving towards them and soon all of them were standing and gathering near the area that it was coming from.

One small squirrel scurried forward and Cliff reached toward it instinctively. He was about to touch it when he noticed that it didn't have the paws he was used to seeing, but eight spider legs. He gently moved to pet it under its chin like he would to his squirrel. The squider attempted to bite him with razor sharp teeth as he moved closer, but Cliff dodged that and rubbed it gently. The squider practically purred and fell to the ground as Cliff continued to pet it.

"It's alright guys." This little fella won't hurt us."

Jaz and Vic were rapidly backing away though, both having a great fear of spiders, they turned their heads down the cavern where this one came from and the two girls moved back. Cliff stood up as he saw an army of squiders heading towards them. Sequin unsheathed her sword and attempted to slice past them. Sam grabbed her arm and Vic's and pulled them towards the cornucopia. Sage was running rapidly as well staying close. Cliff grabbed Jaz but she pulled out of his grasp, not wanting to associate with him. Cliff ran ahead of her and Jaz suddenly screamed. She shook her leg repeatedly and the other careers, who had managed to climb enough of the cornucopia, saw a squider hanging from it. She screamed "I can't feel my foot! Please, come help me!"

Jaz was surrounded by squiders at this point, and although they were cute, they were obviously causing paralysis. The other careers weren't about to risk their lives for someone who couldn't move fast enough. Vic turned her head towards Sam, not wanting to watch Jaz get killed. "Thanks Sam. You saved me." He grinned at her and kissed her softly, as a distraction to Jaz's screams that filled the cavern.

Jaz was soon covered by the squiders, which were biting through her clothes and getting to her skin. Soon she was completely paralyzed and the squiders ate through her skin, getting to her organs, before they bit down on her heart, stopping it. Her screams ceased and the squiders seemed to flee down the cavern they came from, which the careers were very thankful for. They didn't want to figure out how to get rid of them.

Miranda was walking around the areas just outside of her cavern, trying to find food, water, or more wood. She was so far unsuccessful. She sighed and decided to go to the next turn in the cave before she gave up and called it quits. She heard rapid footsteps and heavy breathing approaching, and suddenly two people came into view. She froze in place and held up her axe. Katie and Aidan froze as well and Katie acted quickly, throwing the knife in her hand straight at Miranda's shoulder. Miranda turned and ran back to her cavern, trying to maintain consciousness despite the pain that was rapidly spreading through her body.

Miranda got back, hyperventilating since she shouldn't have run so fast. Her alliance quickly worked to save her, pulling the knife out and tying off the wound. Miranda cursed the fact that there were no plants in this arena that she could use for healing. She would have to watch the wound carefully as time passed. She hoped that a sponsor might help her out, but not knowing if anyone took a risk on her.

Royal was awake on watch as the two women laid beside him, resting, talking quietly. He looked around the cavern and shuddered. He never was a fan of enclosed spaces. He didn't like that this was the arena. He looked up and thought the ceiling looked closer but he figured that he was just freaking himself out. He looked to the entrance and watched for anyone coming. He rolled his head to stretch and noticed that the ceiling looked closer again. He stood up, the ceiling wasn't too much above his head when he had entered the cavern, and he noticed that he could barely stand up. He shook the two girls and they looked at him.

"We need to get out of here."

"Why?"

"The ceiling is getting closer to ground. If we stay, we might be crushed."

The two women got up as quickly as they could and followed Royal, who was brandishing his bow and arrow, out of the cavern, searching for somewhere else that they could hide in safety, wanting to survive for the sake of the next generation.

**AN: I actually really like Tris and I am sorry that he and Anna (who I also really liked) are dead. I will be creating a new poll after the next chapter. You help decide who lives and dies! Let me know what you thought. If you want to see a squider, google search squirrel spider and look at images, it is the first one. Happy hunger games and may the odds be **_**ever**_** in your favor! Leave a review if you want something sent to a tribute…**


	17. Day Two Continued Arena of Fear

**AN: ok, tomorrow, I will write a longer chapter, but I wanted to give you a little taste tonight.**

Day Two Continued

Leo and Andy walked into an empty alcove in this endless maze of caves and Leo walked to the walls and started pulling rocks out. He then tore apart the backpack using a sharp rock. Andy looked on with interest before finally getting so confused as to what Leo was doing that he whispered "what are you doing?"

"Making traps. I don't have the best materials, but this'll have to do."

"Really? That's great!"

Leo fiddled with the traps for the better part of an hour and a half and then he had 5 traps that he had tested on Andy and made sure they worked and could be easily reset. Andy wasn't exactly fond of that part and there were a lot of whispered curse words in the cavern but he got over it once he saw that they worked. The two boys laid out their traps and decided to rest, being completely exhausted since they hadn't slept yet. Leo let Andy take the first shift of sleeping so Andy collapsed to the ground…

Klarissa went off for her alliance to look for sustenance. They were all getting weaker. She heard footsteps coming towards her and she prepared to fight. Katie and Aidan came around the corner and Klarissa ran towards them before either of them could throw something. She pinched bundles of nerves on the necks of both tributes and watched them collapse to the ground, unconscious. The capitol would know they were still alive and they wouldn't like that but she wouldn't kill. Klarissa dashed back to the cavern to tell her alliance of what happened.

Miranda was on watch when Klarissa arrived and told everyone what happened. Miranda sighed. She was beginning to feel serious hunger pains in addition to the pain in her shoulder. _I must have no sponsors_. She thought bitterly to herself, when she heard a click in the ceiling. She tensed and looked up, as a silver parachute glided down in front of her. She prayed it would be first aid for her shoulder but she felt it squish and give off warmth to her hand. She unwrapped a loaf of bread and saw 3 bottles of water next to it. She pulled a piece of the bread off and placed it in her mouth, savoring the flavors. She shared the bread with her allies and handed out the water so they all had equal amounts. She looked to the ceiling and mouthed _thank you_ to the ceiling before resuming her watch duties.

The careers were sitting in their chamber of sorts and groaning as Sequin started up again.

"My hair is a wreck, no one has told me that I look nice, I need makeup, I am dying of hunger, please sponsors! Send me something! Please! I'll settle for a hairbrush! Anything!"

Sam walked to her and slapped her on the face gently. "Sequin, get a grip. This is the hunger games, not a beauty pageant. Besides, we can't compliment you because everything is in shades of green on these goggles."

"My sponsors don't like me because I'm not pretty anymore. Oh, I know! I'll shower in the cornucopia!"

"NO!" was shouted from every corner of the area. Sequin sat in the corner and pouted some more, sobbing, continuing to beg sponsors occasionally. The others tried to tune her out but Sage muttered to the others "can I just kill her now?" This caused some chuckles but they knew that Sequin could be strong as a killer when it came down to it, despite her incessant complaints, so they dealt with it, no matter how tempting it was to kill her.

Quintley found a small alcove and laid down in it, planning to rest. He needed to regain some strength since he'd had no water or food for the past two days. He laid down but not more than five minutes had passed until he felt water hit him. At first he assumed it was rain in his drowsy state, until he remembered the arena was a cave, and that wasn't exactly possible or a good thing. He sat right up and saw water being pouring in from the ceiling and the back of the alcove. He grabbed his stuff and headed out when he looked back and saw a wave of water come out of the alcove. He ran but he was never the fastest runner and he was up to his knees in water. He began to panic, fears of drowning resurfaced in his mind. He bellowed and turned down every path he could find. He felt the water begin to recede and took a few deep breaths. Then he heard a click, and he looked around as fire erupted. He ducked and began running again as he felt fire singe his sleeve. He turned and managed to escape back to where the water had just been, rinsing carefully in that, not knowing which way to go, which evil to face in this horrid arena of fear.

**AN: hey 850 words isn't bad! Enjoy! BTW, if you aren't reviewing as much, your character is less likely to survive. And I'm not sending people parachutes out of the goodness of my heart. Tell me what you want sent or people are going to start starving.**


	18. Day Three Conversations and Parachutes

**AN: Alright, so I wrote out where this story was going and I know who the final three will be. Therefore, I will be having a vote when we get to that number to see what happens with them. I will do that randomly with a pick based on number of votes. Anywho, we still have 17 tributes left at the beginning of day three! The capitol is not happy…it's time for the hunger games to really commence.**

Day Three (FYI, sponsor point prices increase today…if you reviewed before I posted this, they are what they were then.)

Sam and Victoria were doing rounds again and wondering if they would ever move. They were starving so rounds really became stationing people near the exits. Sam and Victoria sat near each other and decided to get to know each other better.

"Why did you leave District 4? I didn't even know you could change districts."

"My mother and father were married after they won the games. The capitol obviously approved but there was never any love in that relationship. My father, like you, fell for a girl in the arena from his games. He never let her go when he won and she died. My mother didn't want us to grow up like that so I was moved to district 12 after my mother got permission to live with her mom, my grandmother."

"I guess I understand. It is just sad that your father didn't turn out well."

"I know. What about you? Got any good secrets?"

"Well, you saw me volunteer for my brother. His name is Lorcan and he is a special child. My parents were forced to marry. My mom got pregnant with me at 15 and was only able to stay out of the games because people volunteer so often here. My parents weren't bad at first but soon my mom kind of got depressed and turned to alcohol and emotionally abusing me. I try to hang out with my friends as much as possible so I can stay out of the house."

Victoria moved closer and put her arm around Sam. "That's awful, I'm sorry."

"Victoria, I might look nice but you are the first girl I have ever been with. I don't want to do what my parents did and make the mistake of having kids too young."

"I would never ask you too. I've never had a boyfriend either."

They kissed again, gently and opened slightly to more before they both pulled away, blushing and held each other close.

There was a steadily growing sound coming from the other end of the cavern. All the careers looked up and saw two figures coming closer. The two people must have been able to see the careers who had gathered in the area by then so it was rather curious that they weren't stopping. Sam pointed an arrow at them and shot it. It lodged itself in the shoulder of one of the figures who instantly slumped before charging forward. Victoria aimed her trident to the one that Sam had shot and threw it hard. The second figure jumped in front of the trident and went down. An anguished cry came out from the figure with the arrow. At this point the careers were finally able to identify who was who. Katie had an arrow sticking out from her shoulder and Aidan had a trident lodged in his chest, breathing heavily.

Katie looked at the careers and threw all her knives at them in a crazed frenzy. She missed them all by throwing in such an angry state and the careers closed in on her. Sage had found a rather sharp and jagged rock in their cavern earlier and she stabbed Katie hard in the chest and sliced her neck. Katie screamed at the first stab and fell silent quickly after. Her thoughts were filled with Aidan, her makeshift little brother in this arena and how she failed him and her real brother by letting Aidan and herself be killed. All she had wanted was water, why else would she have gone to the careers directly. The two of them were practically dying of thirst and now they were dying on the ground. She felt consciousness leave her and she slipped into the black, glad that the pain was at least gone.

Aidan felt horrible for Katie. He knew he wasn't going to win. He could barely swing the axe that was his weapon more than a few times and there were no trees to climb in this arena. He didn't want her to die for him. He was glad though that it was at least over. The girl who threw the trident came over to him and stood over him. He looked at her with sad glassy eyes and she had a flash of pity cross her eyes. She drove the trident deeper into him and he felt one last stab of pain before he too entered the black.

Klarissa felt like she was always the one on watch and recon missions. She knew she could run and all but it was getting ridiculous. She went a little farther and managed to find something odd in the shadows. She moved some rocks off of it and then felt something grab her leg. She screamed and then was hoisted into the air by her ankle. She began to panic and thrashed around a little but the trap that was secured around her leg didn't budge. One part of her mind was rather impressed with such secure trap making especially with so few supplies in this arena. The other part of her mind was screaming in fear of being found like this. She screamed again and then decided to save her energy for later, when she might need it. She tried to reach where she was attached but she couldn't. She pulled out her knife and held it close to her and tried to sleep, despite being upside down and hanging from the cave like a bat.

Royal, Lynnie, and Cynthia all finally found a new alcove to hide in. They sat down and tensed as they heard footsteps approaching. Royal peered out to see Quintley walking oddly towards them. The two girls prepared to fight. Quintley got close and Royal went for his bow and arrow which he had left in the back of the cavern. Lynnie threw a knife at him and he easily dodged it and ran towards her roughly with his staff. Cynthia tried to throw a knife at him but failed miserably. Royal aimed his bow at Quintley and shot him hard in the shoulder, causing him to howl in pain and actually back off. He trudged down the caverns, going to attempt to treat his wound, rather than kill them all. Lynnie sat down in the alcove and looked at the other two. She was curled up as best she could and was huddled in fear.

"What's wrong Lynnie?"

"I can't even defend myself. I'm so weak from the twins that it's impossible to even attack someone."

"You have to attack differently is all. More discreetly." Cynthia said.

"I haven't even had food. I might kill my children before I die."

At her words, a click came in from the ceiling and they all looked up in fear. A silver parachute floated down with a small package. Royal picked it up and brought it to Lynnie.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"Because it has your name on it."

Lynnie opened the package and saw a loaf of bread and 3 bottles of water. She gave Royal and Cynthia water and opened one for herself, drinking greedily. Then she split the bread in three parts and began pulling pieces apart with her fingers, licking everyone. She looked up and said "THANK YOU!" The other two chuckled and they enjoyed the feeling of being less hungry and somewhat full.

Leo sat in the entrance of the alcove and tensed when he heard a click. He twitched around as a small parachute floated into his lap. He opened it to see two loaves of bread, three bottles of water, and a coil of rope. He opened the water and took a bite of bread hungrily. He was going to wake up Andy to give him some when Andy suddenly stood up. He was very concerned when he said "Andy?" and there was no response. He thought back to the rope and looked at it again with confusion. He didn't need it for traps obviously so what would it be for? Suddenly, it hit him. Andy was sleepwalking and he was supposed to be tied down but Andy was walking away quickly and Leo had to practically run to stop him. He shook him hard but nothing seemed to break him from his trance and he froze when he saw what they were approaching.

**AN: Mwhahahaha! Mockingjayaholic – I didn't charge you for the rope for obvious reasons. :) Sorry, I planned this once I got him as a tribute. Review!**


	19. Day Three Cont Apologies and Attacks

**AN: Guess what! I planned out the next three chapters. And they get really bloody really fast. I think you're going to like this stampede to the end of the games! Here goes. Here is the rest of day three.**

Day Three Continued

Andy was approaching the end of a cliff. Leo switched the settings on his goggles to heat sensing mode and noticed that the cliff was completely black, meaning no heat came from it so it probably was deep. He tried to stop Andy again when a knife fell from the ceiling in a parachute. While this was admittedly helpful, since he had left his knife in the cavern, he wasn't going to try to stab Andy out of the trance. With his luck, he would stab somewhere not good. He didn't go to the right areas at training to think that stabbing him would be a good idea.

Andy was nearly at the edge of the cliff when Leo screamed his name as loud as he could. Andy shook his head but he took the last step. His screams echoed in the cavern as he fell, finally reaching the bottom. Leo heard a sickening crack and he shouted down, "Are you okay?" Andy moaned from the bottom of the cavern and Leo said "try to climb up, find handholds!" Andy was in no condition to move though. He tried to crawl to the side but his back was clearly broken by the spots that crossed his eyes very quickly when he tried to move.

Andy knew he didn't have long left so he looked up towards the sky and said "I should've remembered your advice father…I'm sorry." He finally slipped out of consciousness and Leo saw the ceiling suck his body away. Leo walked back to the cavern and picked up his stuff and moved on with tears in his eyes from not being able to save the boy who he thought of as a friend.

* * *

Fenton and Miranda were on watch together in their section of the cavern, talking quietly. Fenton missed the clamoring girls back home who all seemed to like him so much. Miranda was drawn to him by his looks and his kind personality. Fenton and Miranda talked for the duration of the watch and he was excited by her seemingly positive response to him. He vowed the next time they were on watch together he might try to make a bolder move and maybe they could end up together a little longer and provide some companionship.

* * *

The careers met as a group to talk. Sequin spoke first. "We have been here long enough. It is time to go hunt the rest of the tributes down and kill them so we can get out of here."

The others seemed to agree, but Cliff expressed concern.

"What happens to the water source though?"

"We have plenty of water in our packs so we'll be alright."

Cliff agreed and they refreshed their water stores before setting off as a group. They walked swiftly and quietly along the corridors looking for anyone who might be hiding. Suddenly, Sam, who was leading the way with his bow and arrows, put his arm out. They all stopped and noticed a girl sitting in the entrance to a cave. Upon further examination, it was Sky. The careers didn't know who might be with her though so they backed up some and talked.

"We'll just have Sam make a clean shot and if there are others there, then they might not notice, especially if they are sleeping." Sequin plotted and the others agreed. Suddenly, Sage went running.

Sam screamed "Sage!" which actually alerted Sky to Sage's presence. Sky threw her sword out which gave her a longer stretch than Sage's makeshift weapons possibly could. Sky stood up quickly and called to the others in the cavern to come.

"Help me kill them!"

Miranda and Fenton were the only two in the cavern since Klarissa hadn't returned. They looked at each other and quickly decided that running would be a better option since they couldn't possibly handle killing all the careers. The two of them ran and said "Sky, come on, let's get out of here!"

"No!" Sky lunged forward and plunged her sword into Sage's chest who screamed in agony. Sage's thoughts were filled with anger and sadness. She had failed District 2. They expected her to win and she had failed them. Her death couldn't come fast enough so she began to stab herself as best she could with the sharp rock she had used to stab Katie.

Sky continued forward and was met by Sequin. The two of them engaged in a sword fight but Sequin's training helped her get the upper hand and Sequin stabbed Sky in the chest. Sky sputtered blood out of her mouth and said "just like my brother, killed by the ruthless. Rot in hell!" She spit some of the blood onto Sequin who screamed and stabbed Sky again, killing her. The careers thought about going after the other two but determined it would be better to return to their previous spot since they knew it was safe and feared. Sequin raced straight to the water and started cleaning herself off using water poured from a bottle as the others looked on incredulously, enjoying the small chunk of bread that Sky was holding in her pack that they managed to salvage.

* * *

Royal decided to talk to the girls about his situation.

"Cynthia, Lynnie? Could I talk to you guys?"

"Yeah, what's up Royal?"

"Do you think I would be a good father?"

The two women looked at each other and smiled before turning to him and saying "Yes, of course, why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I just want my girl back home to know that I want her and our child to be safe. I want my child to know who I am. I want out of here."

Lynnie spoke and said "I think we all want out of here, but the truth of the matter is only one of us is getting out, and it might not even be one of us. I would ask for my life but I could never ask for you to sacrifice yourself for someone you just met, especially when you have a child at home."

"You're carrying twins though."

"It doesn't matter. You don't me or their father. Your child deserves to grow up with their father."

Cynthia spoke up, "I agree. We know we can't stick together too much longer because numbers are dropping." They heard a cannon go off (signifying Sky's death) that added to what was just said in a way that words couldn't. "I just hope it's one of us. We all are very connected to the next generation and we deserve to live. Heck, we don't even deserve to be in here but there's nothing we can do."

The others nodded and they lapsed back into silence. Royal said from the corner "I hope you saw that Rosemary. I want to be a good father for our child." Somewhere in district 2, Rosemary cried as she saw what could be leaving her, much too soon.

* * *

The head gamemaker looked at the screens in his viewing room and rolled his eyes. He personally couldn't stand all this emotional crap. He knew the audiences loved it though so he didn't have a choice. He looked up at the clock in the corner of the room and smiled. It wouldn't be long now. He had personally even designed the batteries that the creations ran on so it was down to a science. It would only be a couple minutes. He couldn't wait for the reaction. In preparation for the festivities, he enabled all sound from the screens and waited.

He was rewarded quickly with screams erupting from every screen as a new twist entered the games.

**AN: HAHAHAHAHA! I never write cliffhangers so this is super fun. Andy, Sage and Sky were all great, hope you give them a moment of silence. 50% dead…12 tributes are left, who will win? Hope the odds will be in your favor! And look! I found the breaks to make your lives easier :)**


	20. Day Four Blackout

**AN: I apologize in advance for killing so many tributes so quickly…however, there is a good reason that more people die in this chapter than the bloodbath. Happy hunger games!**

Day Four

The head gamemaker laughed evilly as the screams subsided. Sequin was on duty for the careers and her scream of pure terror woke anyone up who was sleeping. Cliff sat up and ran to her, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Sequin couldn't see anything. She was completely in the dark, something that she never allowed to happen. Ever since she was a little girl, she had been terrified of the dark. She cried against Cliff's shoulder and her sobs calmed. She finally calmed down enough to tell him what was wrong.

"I can't see…"

"You can't see? Is something wrong with your goggles?"

"They-they just went out."

"Have you turned yours off at all?"

Sequin shook her head sadly and sniffled again before saying "no, I didn't want to wake up to darkness."

Cliff replied, "your batteries must be out."

Sequin took his hand and sat next to him for the next little while. Vic and Sam's goggles went out soon after and they all sat close. Cliff had been turning his off more when they had been resting in the cave so he still seemed to have plenty of power.

* * *

Leo walked through the corridors of the caves, not knowing what the screams were from. Seconds later, his goggles went out. He walked toward a wall and felt along the wall, knowing it would lead him fairly safely. He walked along until he heard a girl's voice.

"Hello? Can you help me?"

"Who is that?"

"Klarissa! I'm trapped!"

Leo froze, knowing it was his trap that had gotten her. "Klarissa, it's Leo, I'll help you down."

"Oh, thank you, thank you so much."

Leo used the knife he was carrying to simply cut her down from the wall. She landed ungracefully and seemed on edge. "I'm not going to kill you."

"Why not?" She asked him timidly.

"You have been hanging there for goodness knows how long. I never really wanted to kill anyway."

Klarissa smiled broadly, although Leo couldn't see it and she threw herself at him before crying out in agony. She stepped back and Leo realized that he had stabbed her. She had no sight either so she didn't realize he was still holding the knife.

Klarissa cried on the ground as the wound became worse. Leo knelt next to her, apologizing profusely. Klarissa silenced him and said "let me go, I will join my friend again..." She began to sing the song from her interview "_If I die young, bury me in satin, lay me down on a bed of roses, sink me in the river, at dawn, send me away to the words of a love song…Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother, she'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors…"_ Klarissa's voice began to fade out and soon she ceased to speak at all. Leo kissed her forehead softly and left the area, continuing to follow the walls to somewhere safer, he at least dared to hope.

* * *

Royal, Cynthia, and Lynnie were tense to say the least. They had just lost sight. Royal was especially concerned about this because he might have trained on a bow and arrow, but he couldn't just aim blindly. The other two knew that they were practically sitting ducks now but they didn't want to move and risk injuring themselves or the babies.

Suddenly, rough footsteps came towards them. The two girls held up their weapons and Royal tensed on his bow, hoping for a lucky shot. A rough voice came out as they felt something nearly hit their skin. "Who's there?" Quintley had found them.

Lynnie screamed to Royal "Get out of here! Save yourself Royal!" Quintley deduced where she was at the sound of her voice and moved towards her, slashing madly with his staff. Lynnie hoped that he might miss her large stomach, and the capitol might save her babies. Unfortunately, Quintley's wild slashing seemed to get her everywhere and the cavern filled with her screams.

Cynthia attempted to stay quiet but was failing as she heard Lynnie's anguish. "Leave her alone!" she screamed. Quintley paused his assault of Lynnie and felt the screaming girl's body. He found her enlarged stomach and stabbed it hard. Lynnie screamed again and he stabbed higher, getting her heart and silencing her obnoxious screams.

Cynthia cried out as she realized that Lynnie was dead and she would be next. She didn't bother trying to run as she knew it would be pointless. Quintley was stronger and could probably catch her easily. Cynthia decided to plead. "Please, my child, please don't kill us both." Quintley proceeded to kill her in the same manner as Lynnie, by stabbing her abdomen so she knew her child had died before killing her.

Quintley stumbled out of the cavern and headed further down the corridors, hoping to find more people to get rid of so he could get out of here before he was killed himself.

* * *

Sequin wasn't doing well with the careers. Her pleading to sponsors had returned; this time begging for light of any kind. Suddenly, a parachute fell in her lap and she used her fingers to investigate its contents, thanking the sponsors profusely.

She finally deduced that they were matches and she lit one, relishing the light and heat. She then lit another, holding it until it burned the tips of her fingers. She lit the rest of the entire pack at once, blinding the rest of them. When these burned down, she cried out.

"It's not enough! There's nothing here to burn! How did that even help me? It's like you're trying to kill me mentally, not just physically! Well I won't let you get that satisfaction! No I won't! I will take matters into my own hands!" Sequin lifted her sword, stood up and stepped away from the other careers. She lifted the sword for the last time and stabbed herself with it directly in the heart.

Cliff gasped and turned off his goggles before relaying what happened to the other two. They gasped, powerless to stop her and shocked that she would take such a bold move since she had a clear shot to win this. It was clear that her fear was more overwhelming than they realized. They were glad that a strong competitor was gone but they also knew she could have helped them potentially get farther.

Suddenly trudging footsteps approached them. Cliff turned his goggles on again and saw Quintley approaching. He said "Sam, Vic, hide. I will take him." They scattered off, knowing that they would be safer hidden.

Cliff said "Over here, Quintley!" Quintley proceeded towards his voice and Cliff realized that Quintley was blind since his goggles were dead. Cliff used this to his advantage.

"You are evil, Quintley. I heard those two cannons go off not too long ago, was that your doing? Who'd you kill?"

"Those pregnant freaks."

Cliff gasped. "You killed them in cold blood?" Cliff asked dancing carefully around Quintley's flying arms.

"Of course, it was them or me, what was I going to do? Kill myself to let their precious children live?"

"That would have been a much more respectable course of action."

Quintley lunged toward Cliff who moved a second too late and got nicked in the arm and leg with blades. Cliff retaliated and swung his knife. He managed to get into Quintley's side and stab him hard before Quintley hit him again with his staff, cutting a shallow line in his chest. Cliff circled Quintley and stabbed him hard in the back of the neck and pulled his knife down hard, ceasing all of Quintley's motions.

"That was for those girls."

Cliff took Quintley's staff and walked to Sam and Vic, where he collapsed, exhausted. Sam and Vic began to use water to attempt to clean his injuries. They were working blindly so they had to be guided by Cliff who was moaning in pain.

Vic looked to the ceiling and said "I know you guys didn't help Sequin too much but please, can we get medicine for Cliff? He needs bandages! We could use some light too but we really need help to keep him alive."

* * *

The head gamemaker looked frightened. He hadn't realized so many people would die in the darkness. He didn't think they would drop so fast. He knew what he had to do and he was excited to see what they would think of this new development. He lowered his hand to the control panel in front of him and pushed a button featured prominently. He had planned to use this earlier as a shock factor but it never really offered the opportunity. This would help make things more interesting. He hoped that the tributes were ready for yet another twist in these games.

He also was waiting for Leo to be somewhere in particular. He couldn't believe that boy refused to kill. This was the hunger games! It was kill or be killed. Leo would be killed for his refusal and the head gamemaker would take great pride in being able to push that button.

**AN: Cliff's life is hanging on a thread...help him of you like him and his squirrel! I don't actually want to kill him but if no sponsors want to help him…oh and please don't hunt me down and kill me for killing Lynnie and Cynthia. At least I took some really good revenge on Quintley! :) Happy hunger games!**


	21. Day Four Cont Sacrifice

**AN: Enjoy!**

Day Four Continued

It looked like the arena was having a seizure. There were lights blinking down corridors and they seemed to be on a blinking pattern, almost like chasing Christmas lights. In a way, it was worse than the total darkness, but at least the tributes could see again. The few tributes who hadn't removed their goggles did now as the light burned their eyes. They took time, slowly getting acclimated to the new setting.

* * *

Sam and Victoria had renewed vigor with tending to Cliff's wounds as a first aid package fell from the ceiling. They tore it open and easily cleaned and bandaged his wounds. Cliff, glad to have better sponsors it seemed than Sequin, looked to the ceiling and said "thanks."

The three careers looked at each other and realized that it was time for them to separate. Cliff left the other two and headed down a path, taking water and hoping he might find some food soon.

Sam and Vic walked together and talked more, stopping to kiss each other on the cheek often. They were each quickly becoming smitten with the other and smiling constantly. It was nice for the both of them to have a spot of happiness in the darkness that surrounded them in this arena.

* * *

Fenton and Miranda finally stopped running. They didn't know where they were anymore after turning so many times but they seemed to be safe. They had blinked off the shock of the lights turning on. Fenton was quite excited to be alone with Miranda. She was rather pretty and she seemed rather nice as well. He began to talk to her more as they walked along and she was rather responsive. He deemed this as ready for him to make a move. He took her hand to stop her and he brushed some hair out of her face. He moved in to kiss her and she backed off instantly.

"What do you think you're doing?" She said angrily. She wrenched her hand out of his and ran off down the corridor. Fenton dashed after her. He hadn't meant to scare her off. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his only ally that was left. He nearly crashed into her when he found her frozen. She caught him reluctantly and put a finger to her lips. Fenton leaned around her and saw Sam and Vic coming towards them. He realized they couldn't run without being heard since everything echoed here. They had nowhere to hide. Miranda held her axe tightly and Fenton readied his knife. They both stepped out so that they could be seen in the flickering lights.

Sam placed an arm out to stop Vic and lifted his bow. Vic readied her trident in response and the second she saw her target, she threw with deadly accuracy. Fenton saw the trident aiming for Miranda and without thinking, jumped in front of her. She was shocked and angry. She couldn't believe that he would give himself up for her. She knelt before him and said "why?" He smiled in pain and said "because I trusted you and I wasn't going to kill." Miranda picked up his knife and looked at Vic. She was unsure as to why Sam hadn't shot her yet but she didn't dwell on it. She threw the knife straight at Vic before turning and running. Sam jumped in front of Vic, pushing her out of the way.

Sam landed hard on the ground and Victoria was standing over him instantly. She was looking at him in the same disbelief that Miranda had.

"Why would you take that for me, Sam?"

"I would do anything for you. I love you Victoria, even though I barely met you. I wanted to stay with you but if I had to die, I am glad it was to save you. Now win, win for me and for you. Make your life better."

Victoria felt tears seeping out of her eyes and she nodded her head emphatically. She kissed him gently on the lips and he closed his eyes. She reluctantly took some of his supplies, specifically his arrows. She kissed him again and ran off before she could see the ceiling suck him away with tears streaming down her cheeks.

* * *

Leo was walking through the corridors, glad for the small amount of light that was now shining in the arena. He hated being alone. He really missed the company that Andy had provided. He was constantly on the lookout for any traps that the gamemakers might have pulled. That had always been the most interesting part of watching the games at home. Sometimes he could see them coming before the tributes did and that always made him proud of himself and gave him hope that he might survive should he ever be chosen. He walked into a new alcove and was surprised to see grass on the ground. He laid down without thinking and he reveled in the soft feeling of the grass.

He was lying happily, imagining sunshine on his face rather than the flickering lights he was actually experiencing, when he heard a click and a swish. He opened his eyes instantly and saw the door to the area slide shut. He knew he was trapped so he was tensed and he held both knives that he had in his hands.

The head gamemaker was thrilled when Leo walked into the trap that he was dying to use. He waited until Leo thought he was safe and he pressed the lock button. All of the alcoves had these but he had been waiting to use one until it was necessary. Leo was the perfect candidate; he had snubbed the idea of killing so it was time for revenge.

He pressed the button that dropped out the floor and heard Leo scream as he fell. His screams turned into cries of anguish as he landed in the pit of spikes. He was impaled but not fatally. _Excellent_ thought the head gamemaker _the audience will love this._

Indeed they did, they watched him writhe in pain against the sharp spikes, feeling blood loss start to impact him. He felt loss of consciousness coming quickly to him and he felt a few tears leave his face, knowing he would never get to live up to his dreams of becoming famous in his district for his work on traps for food gathering. He wanted to grow old and now he would never have that chance. He mentally cursed the games for killing his chance at life and he willed someone to win the games that actually deserved it and could improve their life and those of others. He closed his eyes and headed into the black, the 20th person to do so in less than 96 hours in this death battle.

**AN: Ahhh! I feel so bad. I meant to update sooner. Also, if you want to send someone something, then just tell me…sponsor points are getting annoying to tally and most of you can afford anything anyways. Final 4! I'm creating a poll for the weekend to see who will win. Victoria, Royal, Cliff, and Miranda are left…who will win? You get to have a say! Please vote. May the odds be ever in your favor!**


	22. Day Five Illusion

**AN: Alright…well, based on voting is who will win. But guess what…you don't know who won! Mwhahaha! It will end soonish….maybe 5 more chapters tops. This one is a pretty cool chapter if I do say so myself. Enjoy…happy hunger games!**

Night Four

The four remaining tributes had managed to find shelter for the night. The anthem had played and those who died had been shown on the ceilings and walls of the caverns. The tributes all found alcoves and tried to sleep, hoping for something to allow them rest so that they would be ready for another day of fear.

The head gamemaker looked at the four cameras focused on the tributes. He smiled as they each fell asleep. He walked over to one of the assistants, a clever girl from District 3. "Did you finish them?" She was typing rapidly and entered a few more keys before hitting enter and looking up, nodding furiously. He grinned at her as she showed him how they had to be used in combination with his control panel. He nodded his understanding and she fled the room, heading for sleep which she had been forsaking to put the finishing touches on the program.

The head gamemaker looked at the tributes sleeping, they were like little babies since they slept so soundly. He was actually surprised at how well this was working out. He wasn't one to complain. He pressed the series of commands needed to set the first scenario off and sat back to watch the show. He decided to do these one at a time so he could actually bask in the brilliance of his idea and enjoy the execution of it. Playing with tributes' minds was such a good pastime.

Royal rolled over on the hard ground, and groaned. He was never going to be able to sleep. He might not have had a lot back home but he had a nice bed. This arena was unbearable, grass would have been welcome at the very least.

He finally managed to fall asleep and was surprised to open his eyes to a brightly lit normal room. He was lying on the carpeting and wondering how on earth there was carpeting in the arena. Perhaps the other three competitors had killed each other off during the night. That could've happened, right? He knew he was just dreaming. He stood up and saw his girlfriend walking towards him. His jaw dropped. How did she get in the arena?

"How dare you! You are so presumptuous. What if I don't even want you anymore? My family is rich enough. I can support this child. I don't need you. Besides, even if you do win, our child will have a murderer for a father and will be destined to join the same games you are in."

He couldn't believe the things she was saying. He knew it was a trick of the mind but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was his greatest fears coming true. How was he supposed to react? He knew she wasn't actually there but he didn't want to just let it go. He wondered how his real girlfriend was reacting right now.

Suddenly, the whole room seemed to spin around. He closed his eyes to stem the dizziness that threatened him. He looked around the new area and saw his girlfriend in a hospital of sorts. She was screaming and it was clear she was in labor. She was screaming that it was too early and the doctors looked nervous. It was clear that she was in serious danger. Royal roared and slammed his body against the screen. He went straight through, confirming that this all was a farce, and hit the wall. The images dissolved and he was panting. He looked to the sky and said clearly, "I will come home to you. I will come home and be a father that our child will be proud of. If he ends up in the games, he will be prepared and I will be able to provide for him and you." He sighed and left the room, searching for one with less memories.

**AN: Alright, I got really busy…soo sorry. I was kind of disappointed that no one yelled at me about it. I don't have the motivation to keep writing the scenes right now but I hope to finish this story within the week. The other three will face the same as Royal and we will see what happens with them. Then there is a final sprint to the finish. Please review, it will give me motivation to keep writing. Happy Hunger Games!**


	23. Illusions continued

**AN: Woohoo new chapter!**

The head gamemaker looked on with glee at the first reaction to this wonderful program. The developer of this would be rewarded beyond her wildest dreams. He couldn't wait to see how the others reacted. He pressed the button for the next show to begin.

Cliff rolled over, glad he was finally sleeping soundly, letting dreams of his squirrel back home overtake him. There was a sound down the corridor by him and he sat bolt upright and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He was at home? He was so confused to be sitting on his couch at home again. He saw his squirrel across the room and stood to get it when he was surrounded by his family and friends. He sat back down as they had practically backed him onto the couch and looked up at them.

He didn't really think about how he got home. He went to stand to hug his father but was paralyzed when he said "how could you, son?"

Cliff looked on with confusion and said "How could I what?"

His mother spoke now, "You killed that boy."

"He was going to kill me, mother. Plus he was evil…pure evil, he killed those pregnant girls!"

His mom and best friends looked on at him in disgust. His dad spoke. "By killing him, no matter how evil he was, makes you evil."

His squirrel ran over to the couch, where the confrontation was occurring. He jumped up to him and chattered angrily. Cliff put his head in his hands and felt his eyes fill with tears. What was he supposed to do? He thought that killing Quintley, the most ruthless person in the game was the one thing that was reasonable to do. He might have killed him cruelly but he wasn't evil because of it.

How could this even make sense? He looked up to his family and saw them looking on at him with evil grins on their faces. He stood up and they all took a step back.

"I'm not evil. You aren't even real. I killed someone who would have killed everyone and then gone on to make everyone around him be miserable for the rest of his life. I can't believe I believed this sick image and trick of the capitol for one second. I am not going to be hurt by you anymore." He swung his knife around at the images and he saw them falter. He stabbed his fake parents and watched the images dissolve, breathing heavily.

He looked up and said "sorry, but I knew you wouldn't treat me like that." He left the cave in a similar fashion to Royal and trekked around the flashing caverns, hoping to find somewhere safe he could hideout.

The head gamemaker sighed, well, a boy cried, but he saw through it. Oh well, at least he had the girls to go still. He walked to another spot on the control panel and pressed the button sequence that was needed to get the next show to start before sitting down in his chair and turning up the volume.

Victoria groaned. She hated the blinking lights. She had this thing where she liked to sleep in total darkness. It wasn't easy at all to sleep if lights were on so she was suffering. She felt like she was seconds from falling asleep when she saw a different light show up and she heard a voice she thought she'd never hear again.

She sat bolt upright to see Sam offering his hand to her. She stood up and walked forward when the room spun. She saw Sam standing next to her and opened her mouth to speak when she noticed that she saw her father standing in his bedroom. He looked scruffy as ever and somewhat dingy. He had tear tracks on his cheeks and he was looking at a picture. Victoria walked closer to him and looked over his shoulder to see that it was of the girl he had loved and lost in the games.

She looked back at Sam and realized that this could be her fate. She might be trying to move on now, but her father was the same and she couldn't believe that this was going to happen. She knew that Sam was dead so she knew that this had to be a gamemaker trick but it didn't detract from the truth of the situation. She looked back at the two men in the room and turned to leave when she came across her brother standing in front of her.

"You stupid girl! You saw how dad's obsession tore apart our family. You want to do that to your husband someday too? I hope you die! I hope you don't live to get out of these games to ruin someone's life like dad did."

Victoria's mouth set hard and she ran through her brother's image and dashed out of the room with tears flooding her cheeks. She didn't bother to go far down the corridor she was in before sitting down and curling up into a ball, holding her knees close to her chest, letting tears flow freely down her face. She might have had the courage to leave that horrible image behind her, but it didn't mean that it had no effect on her. She hoped her brother didn't really feel that way but she had no idea of knowing that for sure. She shook her head sadly and kept sobbing, almost hoping she would be found and killed.

The head gamemaker grinned at Victoria's response. He liked that he had really gotten to her. He was still hoping for an even better reaction. _Oh well, one more shot I guess,_ he thought to himself. If nothing else, it was still good entertainment. He pressed the buttons one more time and watched the final drama play out.

Miranda was sleeping and was surprised to suddenly hear music playing. She didn't think that was a normal gamemaker trick and she opened her eyes. She was looking at screens and she knew she wasn't out of the arena. The floor was still the same. Maybe they were giving her a taste of home to tease her. That was a possibility. She was in a church. She watched as the camera walked up the aisle of the church and noticed that everyone was wearing black. She didn't know what had happened and she was beginning to have difficulty breathing as she was nervous to find out who might have died.

The camera finally got to the front of the church, her best friends' parents were sitting in the front row sobbing and her friend's mom stood up and walked to the lectern. "I wanted to thank you all for coming. I'm sorry I have nothing prepared to say, I was hoping I could ask someone else to speak at this but she's in the arena right now so she can't even be here."

Miranda's eyes filled with tears of rage. She was too late. Her best friend had already died? But, she was supposed to win so that she could have the money and resources to save her. Without her, there was no reason to win anymore. No reason to kill people who had things to live for. She couldn't believe that the gamemakers wouldn't at least let her live so that they could interview her. Then she realized that the home interviews would have already been done.

The image finally laid to rest on the casket which was open at the front of the church. She realized that everyone must have gotten a lot of money together for such a nice funeral. She saw Emily, lying there in the coffin, dead. She couldn't take it anymore. She started hyperventilating and knew that there was nothing left for her at home. She looked to the ceiling and said "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm coming to see you now, Emily." She took her axe and embedded it in herself. She actually smiled as she felt the life drain from her body.

The head gamemaker grinned broadly, this was perfect. The perfect ending to his little twist for them. Only the final three would get to fight to the finish now. He knew just the way to get them together too. He pushed some buttons and sat back to watch how they would react.

**AN: There might actually only be one or two more chapters. Sad how Miranda died. I feel bad for her. Please review! **


	24. Flood

**AN: Enjoy!**

Grand Finale

The arena was flooding. There was water pouring in from all of the alcoves. The water gushed in and started in the dead ends of the arena filling the rooms quickly. Royal and Cliff instantly started running away from the water, knowing that a dead end could mean their death. Cliff was running quickly through the water that was only a puddle for now and came across Victoria sitting in the halls. He stopped and said "Get out of here! The tunnels are flooding!"

She looked up at him and said "Oh good, I was out of water and I'm thirsty."

He looked at her in disbelief and said "Victoria, you are going to drown. Come with me." He held his hand out to her.

"Then I won't end up like him. It's okay, Cliff, you go."

Cliff realized that Victoria must have been severely affected by her hallucination. That meant the cannon from before must have been for Miranda. He didn't want Victoria to die but he wasn't about to die helping her. He turned away from the girl cowering on the ground and ran away from the water which was now ankle deep.

Victoria uncurled herself from her ball and used her hands to cup the water coming in. She brought it to her lips, cracked from lack of water and drank happily. She splashed some water on her face and then laid down in the deepening water. She was splayed out with her hair surrounding her. She smiled as she floated on the water that would have been knee deep. She smiled, figuring the cameras were on her and said "I'm sorry mom, Sam, and everyone else I've let down. I won't become my father though. I'm not going to be the walking dead like he is." She lifted her hand and blew a kiss to the cameras. She laid there with her eyes closed and dove underwater. Her part of the cavern was nearly full now and she swam towards the deeper water, knowing that she needed no other options but to drown.

She was rapidly running out of air so she opened her mouth and gaped like a fish. She felt water go into her lungs and coughed, getting more water into it. She felt herself slipping from consciousness and felt a wave of sorrow rush through her body. She knew her mother and brother would be so disappointed in her, but she also knew that if she became a living shell of who she was because of her love for Sam, they would be even more disappointed.

She felt the consciousness finally slip from her and the audience was treated to the image of Victoria's hair trailing behind her, lights from the ground illuminating her body, making her look like an angel of sorts. The camera view changed to the cornucopia's room where door were rapidly closing. Two were left open and from the depths of one came Royal rushing in. That door closed behind him and soon, Cliff came running from the other one. His entrance locked too. The two boys looked at each other.

Cliff looked at Royal and realized that he had no shot. He may not have believed his parents in that hallucination but he knew that killing a father-to-be, even in self-defense was inherently evil. He wasn't about to outwardly rebel to the capitol but he was not going to be able to kill Royal which meant that he would have to die. He wished he could have a chance to say goodbye to everyone in person but he knew that was over.

Royal looked anxiously at Cliff. He didn't really want to kill but he also knew he was so close to getting to go home and be a father. He knew that his child would understand and he would be the perfect father. He wished that Cliff hadn't been so kind but what if Cliff killed him? He knew he was going to have to fight. The gamemakers lured them both here and they wanted a bloody finish to this battle.

The head gamemaker looked at the screen featuring the last two tributes. They were standing motionless, figuring out their next move. He sat there trying to figure out if he needed to do anything else and decided that he was bored. He chuckled softly to himself maliciously and pressed a button before sitting back down.

The two tributes looked up as the ceiling began to get rapidly closer to them.

"Are they trying to kill us both?" Royal shouted.

Cliff threw a knife in the direction of Royal, missing him by about a foot. Royal instantly sprung into action, exactly as Cliff wanted and he fired rapid shots with his bow and arrows before he lost the leverage of the proper stance from the ceiling closing in on him. He managed to hit Cliff square in the heart and Cliff threw another knife at him just to make it look good. He gasped with his last breath "I'm sorry but it was the right thing," a message intended for his family.

The ceiling stopped getting closer and Royal was sucked up with Cliff. He was pampered and went through the interviews with ease. He was thrilled to finally return home and wrapped himself around his very expanded girlfriend. He hugged her tightly and she kissed him fully on the lips. "I love you. Our son will be so proud of you one day." Royal had tears in his eyes and knew that he would have to train his son since he would almost certainly be in the games but it would be worth it since he would get to be a father to his son. Couple stood there and held each other close as cameras surrounded them and they ignored everyone, glad to be reunited despite what the odds had been.

**AN: Well, thank you for reading. I hope the finale was to your liking. I didn't really care about the interviews at the end. Also, I was late updating because of finals…no excuse but sorry nonetheless. Please review! :)**


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